Economics (McConnell), 18th Edition

CURRENT U.S. INTEREST RATES Visit the Federal Reserve's Web site at www.federalreserve.gov, and select Economic Research and Data, then Statistical Releases and Historical Data, Selected Interest Rates (weekly), and Historical Data to find the most recent values for the following interest rates: the Federal funds rate, the discount rate, and the prime interest rate. Are these rates higher or lower than they were 3 years ago? Have they increased, decreased, or remained constant over the past year?

THE FEDERAL RESERVE ANNUAL REPORT Visit the Federal Reserve's Web site at www.federalreserve.gov, and select Monetary Policy. Then click on Reports and then Monetary Policy Report to the Congress to retrieve the current annual report (Sections 1 and 2). Summarize the policy actions of the Board of Governors during the most recent period. In the Fed's opinion, how did the U.S. economy perform?