Members of the Federal Open Market Committee rarely change their stance on policy once their “core” economic and political views have formed, according to recent research.

Drawing on a new dataset of policymakers’ origins and preferences, stretching back to the committees of the 1960s, Michael Bordo and Klodiana Istrefi identify certain factors contributing to whether an individual becomes a “hawk”, “dove” or “swinger”. Once in a category, policymakers rarely switch.

In the National Bureau of