| Wednesday marked the first FOMC statement and press conference of the Janet Yellen era, and it ended up being quite difficult to understand. The QE taper proceeds, interest rates remain unchanged, and the Evans Rule (no rate hikes considered until unemployment is below 6.5%) is out. It was replaced by the statement that "it likely will be appropriate to maintain the current target range for the federal funds rate for a considerable time after the asset purchase program ends". Yellen elaborated in her press conference, quantifying that considerable time at something like six months, and markets momentarily threw a hissy fit. Calculated Risk unpacks the carefully written FOMC language, along with Yellen's comment, and concludes that there really isn't much news in it: "Yellen's comment fit previously released projections". Cardiff Garcia thinks discarding the quantitative threshold is ultimately a dovish decision. However, he thinks it "is also a little sad for those of us who had hoped that the Fed would keep moving in the direction of greater clarity and transparency... and who think that numerical markers are helpful for reinforcing it." Minneapolis Fed president Narayana Kocherlakota, the lone dissenter to Wednesday's decision, agrees. He says the new guidance weakens the Fed's credibility on its 2% inflation target and "provides little information about its desired rate of progress toward maximum employment". Kocherlakota argues that the old rule should have been replaced by new quantitative, not qualitative, guidance: no rate hikes at least until unemployment is below 5.5%, so long as the long-term inflation outlook remains below 2.25%, long-term inflation remains "well-anchored", and the financial system remains stable. After a press conference that he thought was surprisingly, if unintentionally, hawkish, Tim Duy calls Kocherlakota's statement "remarkable". Duy backs out the thinking of the rest of the committee from Kocherlakota's dissent: "If the most dovish member of the FOMC can tolerate no more than a 25bp upside miss on inflation, what does it say about the other FOMC members?" -- Ben Walsh On to today's links: Charts
The rise of the cult CEO - HBR
Invest a moderate amount for most of your life, or the power of compound interest - Sam Ro Bikes
CitiBike needs a bailout after annual membership proves too popular (and too cheap) - WSJ Study Says
Only 1 in 10 long-term unemployed Americans end up finding a stable, full-time job - Brookings Big Ideas
The movement to end traffic deaths in New York - Maggie Astor
A wonderfully detailed proposal for Guaranteed Basic Income in America - Morgan Warstler Interesting
Legal migration "is the oldest poverty-reduction and human-development strategy" - Project Syndicate Billionaire Whimsy
Larry Page hopes to leave his wealth to a deserving billionaire - Marcus Wohlsen Apple
Apple's estimated share of smartphone profits is between 76% and 87% - Farhad Manjoo Our Dystopian Future
When algorithms take over, we'll be techno serfs and techno aristos - Signe Brewster Semantics
"Very cold water with corners" and other awesome pseudotranslations - Stan Carey City Mouse Country Mouse
"The difference in this country is not red versus blue. It's urban versus rural." - WSJ Equals
Is there a gender gap in tech salaries? (Hint: yes) - Shane Ferro | 
