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The Federal Reserve Resists Change [By staff reporters]

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What to watch

The Federal Reserve [FOMC] announced last week that it will leave the federal funds rate unchanged. Unease concerning the domestic implications of international weakness, particularly with regard to inflation, contributed to the Fed’s decision to delay changing its policy right now.

Why it’s important

The Fed’s decision to stay put indicates that policymakers are not as “reasonably confident” that inflation is heading towards their target of 2% as they’d like to be.

For example, Core Inflation [CI], one key economic measure the Fed is watching, is heading into a third year of running below the Fed’s long-run 2% target rate. While the labor market portion of the Fed’s dual mandate appears in good shape, in part indicated by an unemployment rate within their estimate of full employment, policymakers decided to postpone a decision to raise their policy rate for the first time in nearly a decade, citing concerns around the impact that global economic and financial developments could have on domestic conditions.

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Assessment

According to the Vanguard Group, despite the attention given to the timing of when the Fed starts raising rate, some believe the more important questions are how quickly rates will go up and where they stop. Whether liftoff happens in the coming months or even next year, we expect the Fed to make more measured, staggered rate increases than in previous tightening cycles, especially given the fragility in global economic growth.

This “dovish tightening” will gradually normalize policy in a global environment not yet ready for a positive real fed funds rate.