Monetary policy

George's departure will come around the same time that Chicago Fed chief Charles Evans steps down. Both will have turned 65.

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Esther George said she expects the central bank to raise interest rates to 2% by August, with the further course of tightening being guided by how surging inflation cools off.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said policy makers could potentially pause interest-rate increases in September after hiking by a half point at each of their next two meetings.

The U.S. economy needs supply-side interventions rather than interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve that will fail to bring inflation under control, said Nobel laureate economist Joe Stiglitz.

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Esther George said the “rough week in the equity markets” was not surprising, partially reflecting the central bank’s policy tightening, and doesn’t alter her support for half-point interest-rate hikes to cool inflation.

If the Federal Reserve raises its key interest rate somewhat above what it thinks is a “neutral” level for the economy and stops there, that should help bring inflation down from current elevated levels, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said.

The U.S. economy won’t be able to avoid a bout of stagflation and markets have yet to tune into the risk of a significant slowdown in growth, said Mohamed El-Erian.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said he supports the central bank’s plan to raise interest rates in half-percentage-point steps at coming meetings.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said no one should doubt the U.S. central bank’s resolve to curb the highest inflation in decades, including pushing rates into restrictive territory if needed.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the current Fed leaders were too slow to react to surging U.S. inflation and as a result face a period of stagflation, or a combination of stagnant growth and high inflation.

“Unless there are some big surprises, I expect it to be appropriate to raise the policy rate another 50 basis points at each of our next two meetings,” Mester said Friday.

The Senate voted to confirm Jerome Powell for a second four-year term as Federal Reserve chair on Thursday, trusting him to tackle the highest inflation to confront the country in decades.

During his confirmation hearing, Jefferson’s experience and commitment to follow the Fed’s limited mandates had earned Republican plaudits, while Democrats have praised his research on poverty and the diversity he’ll add to the board.

Logan, 49, currently oversees implementation of the Fed’s monetary policy as manager of the Fed’s $9 trillion securities portfolio and executive vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where she has led Market Operations, Monitoring and Analysis since 2012.

Mohamed El-Erian, a closely followed bond-market strategist, says the Federal Reserve has a trust problem with financial markets and the nation over inflation.

The U.S. economy will probably fall into a recession as the Federal Reserve combats multidecade-high inflation, Randal Quarles, the Fed’s former vice chair for supervision, said.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown said Wednesday that the Senate would wait to confirm President Biden’s Federal Reserve picks until the return of Democrats recovering from the coronavirus.

Lael Brainard was confirmed as vice chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors Tuesday in a 52-43 Senate vote, the first of four central bank nominees set for consideration by the chamber.

A trio of COVID-19 cases among Democrats is expected to delay Senate plans to confirm Federal Reserve nominee Lisa Cook and Federal Trade Commission nominee Alvaro Bedoya this week.

Joe Manchin, a key Democrat in the U.S. Senate, said he’s spoken to Michael Barr, President Joe Biden’s choice to be the U.S. Federal Reserve chief banking supervisor, and so far doesn’t see a problem with his nomination.