Comments from Richmond Fed hawk Jeffrey Lacker in Charlotte:

  • Inflation has ‘bottomed out’, moving toward target
  • Fed needs to withdraw stimulus at appropriate time
  • Sees growth continuing at 2.0-2.5% rate
  • Significant growth in consumer spending unlikely

Lacker is a bit more somber than I would expect. Nothing to suggest he will be pushing for action in the near future.

“I have come to the conclusion that a sustained acceleration of growth to something over 3% in the near future is unlikely,” he said.

He will hold an audience Q&A later but won’t take questions from the media. Kocherlakota speaks at 1745 GMT.