The minutes of the August 9 Federal Reserve meeting contain some interesting details. We'll have to wait five years for a word-for-word account of (nearly) everything said at Federal Open Market Committee meetings, but the minutes, released three weeks after the meetings, contain more information than the succinct communications following the decisions.
In the most recent press release it was noted that three members of the Committee had disagreed with the majority, believing that the commitment to maintain low rates until 2013 was too generous. But now it turns out that other (unidentified) members were instead in favor of even more expansionary measures: buying more long-term Treasuries, so as to influence mortgage rates. The markets therefore expect that the Fed will fly to the rescue again in the coming months if the economy remains weak.
Source: Bloomberg
