00:00Clarity. We didn't get much from Kevin Walsh. How much clarity are we getting from some of those dissenters this
00:05morning?
00:05We're getting a lot more. It's become something of a thing that on the Friday after a Wednesday Fed meeting,
00:11the dissenters published statements explaining their votes.
00:14And we've got statements from two of them, Beth Hammock and Neil Kashkari.
00:19Hammock cites supply shocks, but also says that she sees inflationary pressures on the demand side of the economy as
00:26well.
00:26Businesses in her district, she says, are telling her that pricing pressures are broadening rather than fading.
00:33And she notes consumers are expressing despair over persistently higher prices.
00:37Inflation has been too high for too long.
00:40In my view, now is the time for the FOMC to act to speed the return of PCE inflation to
00:47our 2 percent objective
00:48and deliver on our commitment to price stability for the American people.
00:52And she notes that the longer inflation persists, the more challenging and costly it is to bring it back down.
00:58She also says that she's not confident it will return to their objective on its own.
01:04Kashkari worries about the effects of the series of supply shocks the economy has faced, as well as new demand
01:11from AI.
01:12He looks to the oil shocks of the 1970s and the ultimate decision of the Volcker Fed to lean against
01:18those shocks rather than accommodate them.
01:21To manage against the risk that high inflation would become entrenched, Kashkari says,
01:25I would rather tighten policy incrementally as we gather more data on the path of inflation and unemployment.
01:31If inflation remains elevated, in my view, a potential series of small policy moves would be better than waiting
01:37and eventually concluding that even bolder actions were necessary.
01:42And of course, on the other hand, if inflation fades, he says moving in slow, small steps would allow the
01:47Fed to dial back the stimulus
01:49without unnecessary impact on the real economy.
01:53We have not heard from Lori Logan, the third dissenter, but we are, since it's a thing now, expecting to
01:59get something from her later today.
Comments