Federal Reserve Bank watchers are still waiting for a sign, a word, a signal on when – or if – interest rates will rise. David Nicklaus writes in his St. Louis Post-Dispatch column that the Fed’s credibility is at stake in the interest rate decision. He interviewed Olin’s Jennifer Dlugosz, assistant professor of finance.

“This is a dance that’s continually going on,” says Jennifer Dlugosz, assistant professor of finance at Washington University’s Olin Business School. “Markets are trying to figure out what the Fed is going to do, and the Fed is always subject to ongoing data.” While repeated delays might hurt the Fed’s credibility, Dlugosz points out that a premature move would be even worse. If the Fed raised rates and then had to cut them a few months later in the face of a deteriorating economy, markets might really come unglued.  Link to article

Professor Dlugosz was an economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, DC. She holds a Ph.D. in Business Economics from Harvard University and dual bachelors’ degrees in Finance and Systems Engineering from the Wharton School and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences of the University of Pennsylvania.