MNI FedSpeak Podcast

The Federal Reserve needs to keep a close eye on inflation to ensure a recent uptick does not become more embedded in the price-setting behavior of businesses and consumers, former Fed economist Nellie Liang told MNI. Liang was head of the Fed's Division of Financial Stability for seven years and also served as Under Secretary For Domestic Finance, and we discuss everything from bond market resilience to stablecoins.

Former Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker thinks incoming Fed Chair Kevin Warsh will refrain from pushing for interest rate cuts because the latest uptick in inflation is just not conducive to looser monetary policy.

Renowned LSE economist Ricardo Reis, an academic consultant to the Richmond Fed, thinks incoming Fed Chair Warsh might be able to cut interest rates later in the year if energy prices level off then start coming back down. He's comforted by inflation expectations that are still anchored despite five years of above 2% inflation.

St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem sat down with MNI's Pedro da Costa for an in-depth interview on monetary policy, the economic outlook and more.

The Federal Reserve will likely be going too far in easing monetary policy if it lowers interest rates again in December as widely expected, RDQ Economics chief economist John Ryding told MNI.

Former SEC economist Samim Ghamami discusses his recent research on rising systemic risk from private credit, as well as his thoughts on the path of Fed interest rates and Treasury market as the end of QT looms

The Federal Reserve needs to be extra careful about cutting interest rates in the current environment because inflation expectations are threatened not just by tariffs but also a perceived loss of central bank independence, says Tara Sinclair, who served as deputy assistant secretary for macroeconomics in the Office of Economic Policy at Treasury between 2022 and 2024 and is now chair of The George Washington University's Economics Department.

The heavy mantle of responsibility on the next Fed leader will guide him to set monetary policy independent of President Trump's influence, and should the Fed chair fail to make a convincing case for a desired course of policy, the 11 other members of the rate-setting FOMC would vote according to their own judgement, former Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester tells Fedspeak.

The U.S. economy is operating under a regime of fiscal dominance that will make it harder for the Federal Reserve to keep a lid on inflation, Eric Leeper, a former Fed economist now at the University of Virginia, said on The FedSpeak Podcast.

ADP chief economist Nela Richardson sees a "slow grind" in the labor market as hiring weakens and employment shows a lack of dynamism. However, she doesn't think the will be enough to trigger Fed rate cuts this year, particularly considering strong wage growth and uncertainty about the path of inflation in a high tariff environment.