Powell answers questions:
- Economy is different from 1998; less need for rate hikes
- Correlation between slack and inflation is weak but exists
- Funding pressures at year end 'appear manageable' but we stand ready to adjust
- If it does become appropriate for us to purchase short-term coupon bonds, we would do that
- In order to move up rates I would want to see a significant, persistent rise in inflation rates --- that's my personal view
The bolded line is key and led to a fresh rally in gold but there was an important caveat here. He emphasized that it was his personal view.
"I would want to see inflation that's persistent and significant" before raising rates again, Jay Powell said. "That's my personal view."
Back in October when he first made the statement, he mixed in 'I' and 'we'.
"We've just touched 2% core inflation to pick one measure, & then we've fallen back. So I think we would need to see a really significant move up in inflation that's persistent before we would even consider raising rates to address inflation concerns."
On the one hand, the repetition shows it wasn't some kind of slip-of-the-tongue, while emphasizing that it's his own personal view, stresses that it's not FOMC policy.
