Speaking at a town hall to a group of educators, Fed Chair Jerome Powell repeated the assessment that the US economy is “now in a good place”. While there were some “big events” like Brexit, “the system has been strong”. He also emphasized that the essence of his job is to “earn and deserve trust” of American people to Fed that, it’s “working on their behalf in a non-political way” to support the economy.
Looking forward, Powell said income inequality and sluggish productivity are the biggest challenges of the next decade. He noted “We want prosperity to be widely shared. We need policies to make that happen.” And, “There are policies that we need to do that everyone should be able to agree on that will change mobility, improve people’s chances and enable people to better take part in the workforce of the future.”
Separately, Fed Governor Randal Quarles warned that “right now China is a downdraft as we think about what the potential impact for that is on our economy.” Though, the U.S. outlook “is still very solid” given the labor market in particular.
