Economy · Brief
Fed’s Hammack Wants Smaller, More Frequent Rate Rises
The Cleveland Fed president said inflation is “moving in the wrong direction”, but the Fed is not behind the curve today.
Kunkafa News · Published · Updated · 2 min read
By Kareem FaridDiscuss with the author on X
Key points
- Beth Hammack said the Fed needs “a restrictive stance” to bring inflation back to 2%.
- She favours smaller, more frequent rate rises over sharper moves.
- Governor Michael Barr spoke at Yale on AI and inequality, with no comment on rates in his text.
Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, a voter on rates this year, said on Thursday the Fed must move to a restrictive policy or “an inflationary mindset could start taking hold”, Reuters reported from her remarks at Ohio State University.
She said inflation data show prices “moving in the wrong direction”, but that she does not think the Fed is behind the curve today, and that steady, smaller rises are less disruptive to the economy, according to Reuters. A quarter-point rise is widely expected at the 8–9 December meeting, the report said.
Governor Michael Barr said AI may be “capital-biased innovation” whose gains flow mostly to owners of capital, in a speech at Yale published by the Fed. Newsquawk reported him saying AI’s impact so far is mostly on prices, while lifting investment and GDP.
Earlier this week Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee called the October inflation report “borderline disturbing”.
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