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Address before the New York Group of the Investment Bankers Association of America

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Address before the New York Group of the Investment Bankers Association of America

DATE: October 19, 1955

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ABSTRACT: William McChesney Martin's Punch Bowl (Punchbowl) speech describes the Federal Reserve as a "chaperone who has ordered the punch bowl removed just when the party was really warming up." Earlier in the speech, Martin explains this: "In the field of monetary and credit policy, precautionary action to prevent inflationary excesses is bound to have some onerous effects... Those who have the task of making such policy don't expect you to applaud." In short, the punch bowl metaphor describes the Fed's job as tightening monetary policy before inflation gets out of control. Later Fed Chairs and other economic policymakers have used the "punch bowl" metaphor in their descriptions of Fed's monetary policy actions.

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Martin, William McChesney and Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), 1935- "Address before the New York Group of the Investment Bankers Association of America." October 19, 1955, https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/448/item/7800, accessed on May 16, 2021.

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  • Punch Bowl Speech
  • Punchbowl Speech

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, One Federal Reserve Bank Plaza, St. Louis, MO 63102