News outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNN and the Economist report on the inaugural U.S. Monetary Policy Forum, co-sponsored by the Rosenberg Institute of Global Finance and co-directed by Stephen Cecchetti, the Barbara and Richard M. Rosenberg Professor of Global Finance. The conference was held March 9 in Washington, D.C.

To the casual observer it must appear as if economic statistics are primarily weapons in a public relations war waged by politicians. Is US growth really benefiting everyone? The answer depends on whether you focus on the average or the median, and on wages or compensation that includes benefits. Political supporters of current economic -policies tend to focus on one combination and critics on the other.

Read the conference report, "Understanding the Evolving Inflation Process," written by Cecchetti; Peter Hooper of Deutsche Bank AG; Bruce Kasman of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.; Kermit Schoenholtz of Citigroup Inc.; and Mark Watson of Princeton University.