Can see Fed Pres. Esther George
The Fed's George came back in line and voted with her fellow Fed members for a 75 basis point hike at the last Fed meeting. At the previous meeting George had dissented in favor of a 50 basis point hike.
George says:
- Inflation number last month is encouraging
- Warns it is not time for a victory lap
- relief and core inflation so far hardly comforting
- US still has a pretty significant imbalance between demand and supply
- inflation expectations seem to be pretty well anchored
- some encouraging signs around supply, given drop in shipping rates and improvement in delivery times
- no relief yet seen in the job market, with businesses reporting they are still under pressure to raise wages to higher
- does not expect much further help on inflation from improvements in supply
- productivity numbers currently abysmal
- pace of rate change can have implications for households and businesses
- policy has lags that must be watched
- not clear where stopping point for rate hikes will be, but Fed will need to be completely convinced inflation is coming down
- easing of financial conditions may have been based on optimism that Fed would slow down but does not reflect how Fed is thinking about policy