Following his first FOMC meeting as Chairman of June 16-17, Governor Warsh announced the formation of five new task forces for advancing monetary policy: communications, balance sheet policies, data, productivity and jobs, and inflation frameworks. Of course it is this last task force that most interests us here.

The purpose of the inflation frameworks group is to “revisit how the Federal Reserve understands and responds to the drivers of inflation.”

“The task forces will be co-led by external advisers—accomplished economists, business leaders, and former central bank practitioners—with deep expertise in their fields. Supported by Federal Reserve staff, they will operate independently, with a mandate to follow the evidence, provide candid feedback, and produce rigorous findings for the Federal Open Market Committee.”

In a related report on July 9th, Chairman Warsh released the names of the “outsiders” who will head up each task force. The inflation frameworks task force will be led by:

Greg Mankiw: Harvard University economics professor and renowned author of the Principles of Economics textbook.
Thomas J. Sargent: Nobel Prize-winning professor of economics at New York University.
William White: Canadian economist and former economic adviser to the Bank for International Settlements.