Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said yesterday that 50bps rate hike in May is “obviously worthy of consideration; perhaps it’s highly likely even if you want to get to neutral by December.” But he also emphasized, “the optionality of not going too far too quickly is important.”
He added that but the end of the year, Fed will know a lot more about inflation. “Is it going to be that some of these pricing pressures have crested, and they start coming down? Or are they going to stay high — or are they going to be higher?” Evans said. “And if it’s because of supply concerns, real resource pressures, there’s going to be a lot of gnashing-of-teeth angst over the inflation versus the concern for the economy. And I think finding the right balance is going to always be at a premium.”
