Federal Reserve officials spend a lot of time poring over reams of economic data, but sometimes it pays to take a more hands-on approach, and the Beige Book is designed to do just that.
Published eight times each year, the Beige Book—named for the color of its cover—collects insights into the current state of the economy from on-the-ground interviews, reports, and surveys completed by each of the 12 Fed district banks. Former Fed Vice Chair Alan Blinder once described it as the “ask your uncle” approach to economics.
With forecasters’ narrative shifting wildly over the past year—from a recession, to a “soft landing,” to the current favorite: a higher-growth, higher-inflation “no landing” scenario—the anecdotal details of April’s beige book were closely dissected by many experts. Its release this week followed strong consumer spending data and the…
