What to Expect From the Fed's Minutes

With the U.S. economy still running below potential and the rest of the world presenting ample challenges to growth, this week's release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's July policy-making meeting should garner a lot of interest among economists and market participants. I see five areas where the minutes can provide insight into how officials perceive the balance of risks and what actions they might take.

All told, I expect the minutes to portray a U.S. economy strong enough to withstand external headwinds, but still struggling to operate at full capacity and regain its longer-term potential. Although the Fed will stick to a cautious, measured and data-dependent approach, admitting that there are still areas of analytical uncertainty, this will not necessarily mean that it will signal inaction.