How the Federal Reserve Lost Its War (at Motley Fool)

The Federal Reserve's primary role is to set monetary policy for the United States. Through its actions, it determines both the cost and the value of the dollar. That's a pretty powerful position. It's so powerful that whenever the chairman of the Federal Reserve speaks, people listen, and the stock market itself often moves. Because the Fed chairman's mere words have such tremendous impact on the markets, those statements often carry more weight than actual monetary policy shifts. From "irrational exuberance"... No Fed chairman in recent history understood that soft power better than Alan Greenspan. He was a master of obfuscation, so nearly all Greenspan's speeches required nuanced interpretations to comprehend. While that added quite a bit of complexity to analysts' jobs, Greenspan did consistently send one clear message to... [read full story]