San Francisco Fed President John Williams said yesterday that inflation is going to rise to and then stay above the 2% target for “another couple of years” even though Fed continues with its tightening path. And he’s not worried because “there are global factors that are holding inflation down.”
Also, Williams was not concerned with the problem on inverted yield curve. Fed’s rate hike will push up short term rates. But at the same time, Fed is unwinding its balance sheet and that will also push up long-term rates. He added that “I personally don’t anticipate having an inverted yield curve in the next few years.” But he would see “an inversion of the yield curve as a warning sign that sentiment is that growth is going to slow markedly.”
Regarding the trade spat between Trump and other countries, he said “what worries me about trade discussion beyond what’s happened is if we have continued uncertainty over trade policy what’s going to happen over the next few years.” And, the uncertainty itself can have a “negative” effect of businesses.
