, Columnist
The Fed Has Freed Emerging Markets From Uncertainty
The U.S. central bank now conveys its intentions so clearly that its counterparts elsewhere don't have to guess and react.
With fewer surprises from the influential Fed, Jakarta can focus closer to home.
Photographer: Graham Crouch/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Emerging market officials are listening to the Federal Reserve very carefully -- but they are no longer imitating its every move.
This discretion is a healthy change. It means policy makers in, say, Asia or Latin America can respond to local needs without fear of punishment by investors. It also frees Chair Janet Yellen, or whoever succeeds her, to make calls more on the basis of U.S. conditions without worrying overly about ricocheting in Jakarta, Brasilia or Mumbai. That concern won't go away, but it's probably diminished.