"If the Fed don't hike by 50bp at the May FOMC meeting, they never will"

The headline from the post is a point made by ING in their look at the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

For context:

• US personal spending, income, jobs and inflation data all point to a vibrant economy that needs monetary policy to become far more restrictive to get price pressures under control. Combined with recent Federal Reserve official comments, this leaves us with the impression if the Fed don't hike by 50bp at the May FOMC meeting, they never will.

The FOMC meeting is still more than 4 weeks away, so there is time for a spanner in the works. Given global volatility - war as one example - its a possibility.