Title:

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

PREVIOUS | NEXT

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

DATE: October 19, 1955

PART OF: AUTHOR: CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR:

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.

Download (pdf) View Full Text

Share this page:


Save & Share
less

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 April 12, 2021.

More Information
less

ALTERNATE TITLES:

  • Punch Bowl Speech
  • Punchbowl Speech

THEME:

RELATED ITEMS:
Metadata (XML) Metadata (JSON)

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