The Federal Reserve introduced a visual tool called the "dot plot" in 2012 to communicate where officials think interest rates should be in the coming years. The dot plot is eagerly dissected by Fed watchers looking for insight on future policy, but others think that the dot plot has become a visual example of just how little the Fed can predict where the economy is going.
Today on the show, we decode the dot plot and hear why some think that the Federal Reserve's artistic exercise should be scrapped altogether.
The Federal Reserve's latest dot plot (page 4)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok,
Instagram,
Facebook,
Newsletter. Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
