Comments from Cleveland Fed President Mester on CNBC

  • My view is that we have to take into account financial markets when we set policy
  • Risks are balanced. There are certainly some upside risks (cites tax changes)
  • For downside, cites trade and geopolitics
  • 'Symmetrical' is in our long-term view, it's just a reminder
  • The Fed isn't concerned by short-term misses on inflation, it's about sustained misses
  • 2% is not a ceiling, it might go above or below for 'a little bit'
  • Near-term readings on inflation will likely go above 2% because of transitory influences but we have to look through those factors
  • 3-4 hikes is gradual

Nothing particularly notable. Mester is a hawk and those aren't especially hawkish (or dovish).