Tally rises to four dissents.
- Cleveland Fed joins Philly, KC and Dallas voting for discount rate hike of 25 bps to 1.00%
- Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, NY, Richmond, SF and St. Louis voted for no change at 0.75%
- Minneapolis voted for cut to 0.50%
- Increases in broad measures of wages generally remained modest
- Many said export growth slowing
- Inflation low due to lower energy and other transitory factors
A 7-4 vote shows the hawks gaining some ground. Maybe the big surprise might be a hike in the discount rate before Fed funds. It wouldn't be a shock to see Richmond and St Louis switching sides.
The more I think about it, the more it sounds like a great idea. It would send a bit of a jolt to markets and would be a warning that the Fed is serious about hiking rates later this year. I don't believe that's ever been done and I'm not entirely sure how it would be communicated. The discount meetings occur every second or third Monday.
Update: RTRS and Bloomberg are at odds on this one. Bloomberg says Cleveland added a dissent but Reuters says it's still only Dallas, KC and Philly (who have been dissenting for awhile).
Looking through the report (which is something I don't do often with the Discount Minutes), it looks like BBG has the story correct.
