The Fed does not literally set the federal funds rate; it injects or extracts bank reserves (changes the money supply) so that the actual overnight interbank rate is brought into line with the FOMC's target.

definitionpending

Speaker

John Taylor

Evidence Quote

effectively they set a target and the idea is that the the Fed and New York trading desks adjust the reserves or the money supply to bring the actual interest rate into line with their goal

Source

John Taylor on the Financial Crisis 07/20/2009EconTalk
Created: 6/15/2026, 9:20:12 AM

My Notes

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