2013 transcripts released
Fed transcripts are released on a five-year lag and the latest edition is out. Journalists and market watchers are leafing through the transcripts now.
One of the early takeaways was that Jerome Powell -- who had joined the Fed in 2012 -- argued against the Fed's 2013 bond purchases. He urged the end of bond buying 'well before the end of the year'.
In the meeting just before the taper tantrum Powell said the Fed should 'take the next plausible opportunity' to taper.
However he was also skeptical of a rapid improvement in the economy. Here's Powell in early 2013:
"Since the last meeting, the data suggest to me a modest improvement in the outlook, if only because the economy has weathered the year-end fiscal cliffhanger with no loss of momentum. My industrial contacts report no real improvement, and my own experience in that space is that when the inflection point comes, it can be pretty dramatic; you don't have to squint to see it. So I don't think we're missing it," he said.
