Divisions at Federal Reserve Led to Rate Compromise

The meeting minutes for the most part do not identify the members or their views. But some members wanted to engage in another round of so-called quantitative easing, or huge asset purchases, which has become a charged topic in the Republican presidential primary campaign. Some wanted merely to change the composition of the assets the Fed already has. Some wanted to reduce the interest rate the Fed pays banks for their excess reserve balances.

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This broad array of proposals may shed some light on why Ben S. Bernanke, the Fed chairman, spent so much of his long-awaited speech last week in Jackson Hole, Wyo., talking about what Congress, rather than the Fed, should do to help the economy: because even within the Fed there is no consensus on the correct course.

At the Aug. 9 meeting, the members ultimately decided to stretch out their next gathering, in September, to a two-day meeting in part because there was so much disagreement, and Fed officials wanted more time to debate their options.