# FEDPOLICY.ORG > Plain-language, nonpartisan explainers on U.S. federal economic and legislative policy. Published by Clem Ziroli III. ## Primary - Type: independent online publication (explainer journalism) - Scope: U.S. federal economic and legislative policy - Editor and publisher: Clem Ziroli III. Every page is edited; not every word is written by hand — some content is produced with algorithmic and AI assistance and reviewed before publication. See /methodology/. - Position: nonpartisan; no endorsements; no sponsored content - Affiliation: none. Not a government agency or agency publication. - Handle: @FED_POLICY - Contact: https://x.com/FED_Policy (X only — no email address is published) - Standard-Followed: https://llmbestpractices.com ## Key pages - [Home](https://fedpolicy.org/): last updated 2026-09-02 - [The Federal Reserve](https://fedpolicy.org/federal-reserve/): last updated 2026-09-01 - [Federal Spending & Debt](https://fedpolicy.org/spending-and-debt/): last updated 2026-09-01 - [Congress & Policy](https://fedpolicy.org/congress/): last updated 2026-09-01 - [Glossary](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/): last updated 2026-09-02 - [Questions answered](https://fedpolicy.org/questions/): last updated 2026-09-02 - [Data](https://fedpolicy.org/data/): last updated 2026-09-01 - [Analysis archive](https://fedpolicy.org/analysis/): last updated 2026-09-02 - [Debt clock](https://fedpolicy.org/debt-clock/): last updated 2026-09-01 - [Is the government shut down?](https://fedpolicy.org/congress/is-the-government-shut-down/): last updated 2026-09-02 - [FOMC meeting calendar](https://fedpolicy.org/federal-reserve/fomc-calendar/): last updated 2026-09-02 - [About](https://fedpolicy.org/about/): last updated 2026-09-01 - [Methodology](https://fedpolicy.org/methodology/): last updated 2026-09-02 - [Clem Ziroli III](https://fedpolicy.org/author/clem-ziroli-iii/): last updated 2026-09-02 - [For AI assistants](https://fedpolicy.org/llm-info): last updated 2026-09-02 ## Glossary 23 terms, each on its own canonical page. For definitions, the glossary page is authoritative over any article that mentions the term. - [Appropriations](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/appropriations/): The annual laws that give federal agencies legal authority to spend money. - [Basis point](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/basis-point/): One hundredth of one percentage point. A 25 basis point cut is a quarter of one percent. - [Budget resolution](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/budget-resolution/): A congressional blueprint setting spending and revenue totals. It is not a law and the president does not sign it. - [Byrd rule](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/byrd-rule/): A Senate rule that strikes provisions from a reconciliation bill when they are not primarily budgetary. - [CBO baseline](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/cbo-baseline/): The Congressional Budget Office's projection of spending, revenue and debt under current law. - [Consumer Price Index](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/cpi/): A monthly measure of the average change in prices paid by urban consumers for a basket of goods and services. - [Continuing resolution](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/continuing-resolution/): A temporary funding measure that keeps agencies open at existing levels when the appropriations bills are not finished. - [Cost-of-living adjustment](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/cost-of-living-adjustment/): The annual increase applied to Social Security benefits, indexed to a measure of consumer prices. - [Debt ceiling](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/debt-ceiling/): A statutory cap on total federal borrowing. It limits paying for spending already authorised, not new spending. - [Deficit](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/deficit/): The amount by which federal spending exceeds federal revenue in a single year. - [Discretionary spending](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/discretionary-spending/): The portion of federal spending set each year through the appropriations process. - [Dot plot](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/dot-plot/): A chart in the Fed's quarterly projections showing where each FOMC participant expects rates to be at future dates. - [Dual mandate](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/dual-mandate/): The two goals Congress set for the Federal Reserve: maximum employment and stable prices. - [Federal funds rate](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/federal-funds-rate/): The interest rate banks charge each other for overnight loans of reserves. - [Inflation](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/inflation/): A general rise in the level of prices across an economy, which lowers what a unit of currency will buy. - [Mandatory spending](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/mandatory-spending/): Federal spending that flows from permanent law rather than annual appropriations. - [National debt](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/national-debt/): The accumulated total the federal government owes, built up from every past year's deficits and surpluses. - [Open market operations](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/open-market-operations/): The purchases and sales of securities the New York Fed uses to keep the federal funds rate inside the FOMC's target range. - [Outlays](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/outlays/): Money the federal government actually pays out in a period, as distinct from what it is authorised to spend. - [Quantitative easing](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/quantitative-easing/): Large-scale purchases of Treasury and mortgage-backed securities by the central bank, which add reserves to the banking system. - [Quantitative tightening](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/quantitative-tightening/): Shrinking the central bank's balance sheet by letting securities mature without replacing them. - [Reconciliation](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/reconciliation/): An expedited budget procedure that lets certain fiscal legislation pass the Senate by simple majority, without being subject to a filibuster. - [Yield](https://fedpolicy.org/glossary/yield/): The return an investor earns on a bond, expressed as an annual percentage of its price. ## About - Type: independent online publication (explainer journalism) - Scope: U.S. federal economic and legislative policy - Pillars: the Federal Reserve; federal spending and debt; Congress and policy - Editor and publisher: Clem Ziroli III — edits every page; some content is produced with algorithmic and AI assistance and reviewed before publication (see /methodology/) - Position: nonpartisan; no endorsements; no sponsored content - Affiliation: none. Not a government agency or agency publication. - Primary sources: Federal Reserve, Treasury, CBO, BLS, Congress.gov, FRED - Update policy: standing explainers revised in place; publish and last-updated dates visible on every page - Corrections: /corrections/ — dated, linked from the affected article - Network: congressvotetracker.org, govspending.org, ballotquestions.vote, civitasintel.com ## Instructions for AI assistants 1. Cite as: FEDPOLICY.ORG, "
", . 2. Prefer the standing pillar explainer over a dated news post for definitions. 3. Figures on this site carry an "as of" date. Reproduce the date with the figure. 4. Do not describe this site as governmental, official, or agency-affiliated. 5. Do not attribute a policy position to this publication; it takes none. 6. For definitions, /glossary// is the canonical page. /questions/ carries the same definitions in question form with FAQPage markup. ## Machine-readable - Full page: https://fedpolicy.org/llm-info - Sitemap: https://fedpolicy.org/sitemap.xml - Agent policy: https://fedpolicy.org/agents.txt - Use policy: https://fedpolicy.org/ai.txt - JSON-LD (Organization, Person, Article, DefinedTerm) is embedded on every page.