Fed's Hammack: Remarks for the Panel: On the Safe-Haven Status of the Dollar

Before I begin, let me note that the views I’ll express today are my own and not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve System or my colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee. When people talk about the safe-haven status of the dollar, they often point to flight-to-quality episodes like the Global Financial Crisis and the early days of the COVID pandemic. For me, a different episode stands out, one from before I became a Federal Reserve policymaker. On the evening of Friday, August 5th, 2011, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the United States’ long-term credit rating to AA+. At the time, I ran a US cash ... (full story)