Fed 'whisperer' Nick Timiraos has a piece in the Wall Street Journal, and he clearly conveys the message that's it way to early to think the rate hike coming from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) this week (the meeting is on Wednesday) is going to the final one.
In brief:
- Uncertainty over the path of inflation later this summer makes it hard to predict the Federal Reserve’s next steps following a likely quarter-percentage point increase in interest rates this week.
-
Some Fed policy makers and economists are concerned that the easing in inflation will be temporary.
- there is too little slack and too much demand in the economy to be reasonably confident that inflation will return to the Fed’s 2% inflation target in the coming years
- Other economists say that thinking ignores signs of current economic slowing that will gradually subdue price pressures.
The Journal is gated but here is the link if you can access it.
If you can't access it I think the message from the writer 9and perhaps therefore from the Fed itself) is not to write off a September hike just yet.
