Federal Reserve Watch for May 29: Overreacting to Energy Price Spike Could Depress Economic Growth Unnecessarily, Bowman Says
Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman (voter) said that more clarity is needed on the situation in the Middle East before overreacting to a what could be a one-time spike in energy prices.Recent comments of note:(May 28) Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson (voter) said that he remains focused on bringing inflation down to the 2% goal but would not comment on the future path of monetary policy, saying that he is taking a meeting-by-meeting approach.(May 28) Fed Governor Lisa Cook (voter) said that she is prepared to raise interest rates if inflation remains elevated but said that she is expecting inflation to slow without rate increases.(May 28) St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem (nonvoter) said that inflation remains a concern and that returning inflation to the 2% goal is still a priority. Musalem was cautious about the role that productivity could play in lowering inflation.(May 22) Fed Chair Kevin Warsh (voter) was sworn in, saying that he intends to be reform-oriented and abandoning old models that were not serving the Fed's mission.(May 22) Fed Governor Christopher Waller (voter) suggested that the Fed's policy rate could remain on hold for some time, indicating that the risks are tilting back toward inflation. Waller also said that a rate increase is possible if inflation remains high rather than comes back down.