- Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s conviction that the inflation whipping through the economy this year soon will subside is not universally shared.
- No fewer than five Fed regional presidents have told CNBC it’s time to pull back on the easy-money policies, citing various levels of confidence in the economy tempered by worries over inflation.
- “All the extra costs that we get passed onto us, we have to pass down to the customers,” JKC Trucking owner Mike Kucharski said.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s conviction that the inflation winds whipping through the U.S. economy this year soon will subside is not universally shared.
In fact, a growing contingent within the Fed’s virtual halls is raising concern that the supply chain disruptions, burgeoning demand and shortages of labor and supplies could push the current trend well into 2022 and beyond.
Patrick Harker, the president of the Philadelphia Fed, said as much Friday in a CNBC interview that aired just before Powell gave his pivotal Jackson Hole symposium speech.
The Fed not only has achieved the inflation part of its mandate by keeping the level at well above 2% for a period of time, but it also faces the challenge that those price pressures don’t seem to be fading, Harker said.