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Date and Location

November 8, 2019
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM ET
B-503 (m-rcbg Conference Room)

Contact

617-495-9379
The Fed and the 2008 Financial Crisis: What the FOMC Transcripts Reveal Photo

The 2008 financial crisis, a once or twice in a century event, has been analyzed from virtually every imaginable angle. Like the Great Depression, it is likely to continue to be analyzed and debated for decades to come. One underexplored lens on the financial crisis is provided by the transcripts of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings. The Federal Reserve releases these transcripts, which provide a virtually verbatim record of the Committee’s discussions and deliberations, as well background materials, five years after the end of the calendar year in question. Paul Sheard was Global Chief Economist of Lehman Brothers at the time of its demise. He read through all of the 2008 transcripts of FOMC meetings and conference calls after Lehman’s failure on September 15, 2008 (and many of the earlier ones that year), and presented his main take-aways in a 2014 article. In this Study Group, step into the boardroom with Paul Sheard, as he reviews some of the key themes and insights that emerge from the 2008 post-Lehman transcripts; he may also share one or two personal vignettes from his experience at the epicenter of the global financial crisis.   Background reading:Paul Sheard, 2014: “Step Into The Boardroom: The FOMC’s 2008 Post-Lehman Transcripts,” Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services RatingsDirect, March 7, 28ppPaul Sheard, 2018: “Lehman Brothers Former Chief Economist On The 2008 Financial Crisis: Lessons Learned, Lessons Missed."https://www.bloombergquint.com/opinion/2018/09/03/lehman-brothers-former-global-chief-economist-on-the-2008-financial-crisis-lessons-learned-lessons-missed

Speakers and Presenters

​Paul Sheard

Organizer