Editing Federal Reserve (section)

==== Inflation and the economy ====
Most [[mainstream economists]] favor a low, steady rate of inflation.<ref name="econjournalwatch.org">{{Cite book |last=Hummel |first=Jeffrey Rogers |title=Death and Taxes, Including Inflation: the Public versus Economists |date=January 2007 |url=http://econjwatch.org/articles/death-and-taxes-including-inflation-the-public-versus-economists |page=56}}</ref> [[Chief economist]], and advisor to the Federal Reserve, the [[Congressional Budget Office]] and the [[Council of Economic Advisers]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lsa.umich.edu/econ/alumni-friends/economics-leadership-council--elc-/diane-c--swonk.html|title=Diane C. Swonk|publisher=University of Michigan LSA Department of Economics|website=lsa.umich.edu|access-date=October 14, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180108005615/en/Grant-Thornton-names-Diane-Swonk-chief-economist|title=Grant Thornton names Diane Swonk as chief economist|date=January 8, 2018|website=www.businesswire.com|language=en|access-date=February 2, 2019}}</ref> [[Diane C. Swonk]] observed, in 2022, that "From the Fed's perspective, you have to remember inflation is kind of like cancer. If you don't deal with it now with something that may be painful, you could have something that metastasized and becomes much more chronic later on."<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/inflation-remains-stubbornly-high-despite-federal-reserves-efforts-to-stabilize-costs "Inflation remains stubbornly high despite Federal Reserve's efforts to stabilize costs"] Amna Nawaz, [[PBS]], October 13, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.</ref>

Low (as opposed to zero or [[Deflation|negative]]) inflation may reduce the severity of economic [[recession]]s by enabling the labor market to adjust more quickly in a downturn, and reduce the risk that a [[liquidity trap]] prevents [[monetary policy]] from stabilizing the economy.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Escaping from a Liquidity Trap and Deflation: The Foolproof Way and Others |first=Lars E.O. |last=Svensson |journal=Journal of Economic Perspectives |volume=17 |issue=4 |date=Fall 2003 |pages=145–166|doi=10.1257/089533003772034934 |s2cid=17420811 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The task of keeping the rate of inflation low and stable is usually given to [[monetary authority|monetary authorities]].