Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said is a speech that the US economy is “in a good place”, and he “struggled to come up with sufficient variations on the word ‘strong'”. And to him strong economy means “able to withstand great force or pressure”. “Tariffs, trade restrictions, and market volatility” are the headwinds. But there are also tailwinds in “recent tax reform and fiscal stimulus”. And because of strong GDP numbers in Q2 and Q3, he’s revised up 2018 and 2019 growth projections.
On monetary policy, he said “unless the data talk me out of it, I view a continued, gradual removal of policy accommodation as appropriate until we get to a neutral policy rate.” And he emphasized that the current Fed policy rate “has not yet reached a neutral stance” and Fed is “still providing accommodation”. The Fed has “yet to pump the brakes”.
Bostic’s full speech A View of the Fed’s Policy Path.
