What is the Beige Book?
Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District through reports from Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources. The Beige Book summarizes this information by District and sector. An overall summary of the twelve district reports is prepared by a designated Federal Reserve Bank on a rotating basis, published eight times per year.
The “Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District,” report commonly known as the Beige Book, is published eight times per year. Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District through reports from Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources. The Beige Book summarizes this information by District and sector. An overall summary of the twelve district reports is prepared by a designated Federal Reserve Bank on a rotating basis. Links • The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book: a better mirror than crystal ball, The Region, March 1999 • Board of Governors • Latest Beige Book • Beige Book Release Dates • FOMC Meeting Dates and Minutes • Monetary Policy Objectives • National Bureau of Economic Research • U.S.
The Beige Book is a report issued by the Federal Reserve Board or Fed eight times a year, immediately before the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings on interest rates. It is formally known as the “Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District,” and it includes 13 sections, with 12 reports from member Federal Reserve Banks and one report summarizing the information from all of the branches. It is one of the tools used by the Fed in an attempt to make balanced, fair decisions which will benefit the American economy. Members of the public first got a glimpse at the Beige Book in 1983, when the Fed began releasing it to the public. It is one of the more informal Fed publications, since it focuses on anecdotal reports and data from some unusual places in an attempt to get a more balanced picture of the American economy and the general economic mood. The Beige Book does not include pages of tightly packed statistics, for example, but it will inclu
The “beige book,” a survey of economic activity culled from the Federal Reserve’s 12 districts, is issued about two weeks before each meeting of Fed policymakers to help inform such decisions as setting interest rates. The report is based on phone calls to businesses across the country, and does not disclose the names of participants. cited from: Consumer Prices Fall in March – washingtonpost.
The Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District, commonly known as the Beige Book, is a report published eight times per year prior to Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings. Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District through reports from Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources. The Beige Book summarizes this information by District and sector. An overall summary of the twelve district reports is prepared by a designated Federal Reserve Bank on a rotating basis. Access the Beige Book from the following sites: Board of Governors This site has complete Beige Book contents going back to 1996. Beige Book Archive This Minneapolis Fed site has Beige Book contents going back to 1970.
