4 of the branch presidents of the Federal Reserve are speaking this evening (US time)
- Robert Kaplan, president of the Federal Reserve Dallas
- James Bullard president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
- Dennis Lockhart. Atlanta
- John Williams, San Francisco fed chief.
Williams:
- Says globally the natural rate of interest has fallen
- The decline in the natural rate of interest raises questions about inflation targeting
- Optimistic about achieving US 2-pct inflation goal
Lockhart
- Says not practical to move away from Fed's 2-percent inflation target
More:
Bullard:
- Setting interest rates low or negative could plausibly lead to low inflation
(Nope, no idea what he is on about either)
Williams:
- Fed has a lit of tools if US economy hit by another shock
(Dude, don't start me on a list of Fed tools)
Williams:
- US is at full employment, inflation is near target
- Fed is talking about two or three rate hikes this year, needs to hike gradually
Kaplan:
- Costs to keeping rates as low as they are, but can't force rate hikes
Lockhart:
- Fed should pursue normalisation of rates, to a lower destination than was historical norm
- If Fed cannot lift inflation in coming year, must rethink what is keeping it so low