Monetary policy

For the U.S. Treasury market, 2019 is turning into a battleground for bets on the path of U.S. monetary policy.

Richard Clarida was sworn in as vice chairman and a member of the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors Monday.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco announced Friday Mary C. Daly was named president and chief executive officer, effective October 1, 2018.

Long considered a dove, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans Friday expressed comfort with the inflation outlook and repeated his belief rates will become slightly restrictive. That led some observers to ramp up concern about the flattening yield curve.

Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen says the central bank should consider deliberately courting an economic boom to make up for a bust by promising to keep interest rates “lower-for-longer” after they are cut to zero.

Interest rate hikes should proceed, but Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic warned that while tariffs haven’t become a huge concern yet, the possibility exists they will.

Gradual Federal Reserve rate hikes remain appropriate, and while this may invert the yield curve, Fed Gov. Lael Brainard said she believes there are reasons to “temper somewhat” implications of a negative curve.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said a solid August jobs report and growing momentum in the U.S. economy underlined her support for continued gradual interest-rate increases this year.

The Federal Reserve shouldn’t hesitate to invert the yield curve if necessary to achieve the U.S. central bank’s targets.

Steven Friedman, senior economist at BNP Paribas Asset Management, discusses the flattening yield curve, the neutral rate and Federal Reserve rate hikes. Gary Siegel hosts.