Comments by Cleveland Fed president, Loretta Mester, on Bloomberg TV
- Says Fed funds rate are about at neutral right now
- Fed doesn't discount markets but looks at many factors
- Says would like to see more inflation expectation data before reaching conclusions
- Trying to assess how much growth is slowing
- There's a possibility that growth is slowing more than the Fed expects
- Fed is not in a position to give policy advice to the POTUS
- No reason to think that Trump's nominees will make the Fed more political
Just be aware that Mester is arguably the most hawkish member of the FOMC board but she's not a voting member this year. Hence, her comment on the inflation outlook and where the Fed funds rate is right now mainly reflects her character and isn't anything too surprising.
