Statement by Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle W. Bowman

Jerome “Too Late” Powell, a stubborn MORON, must substantially lower interest rates, NOW. IF HE CONTINUES TO REFUSE, THE BOARD SHOULD ASSUME CONTROL, AND DO WHAT EVERYONE KNOWS HAS TO BE DONE!

At the most recent Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, I dissented because I concluded that cutting the policy rate by 25 basis points was the appropriate stance of policy. In a speech I gave July 17, I laid out the case for cutting the policy rate at the July FOMC meeting and my views have not changed since then. I will recap the reasons for doing so. First, tariffs are one-off increases in the price level and do not cause inflation beyond a temporary increase. Standard central banking practice is to "look through" such price-level effects as long as inflation expectations are anchored, which they are. Second, a host of data argues that monetary policy should now be close to neutral, not restrictive. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth was 1.2 percent in the first half of this year and is expected to remain soft for the rest of 2025, much lower than the median of FOMC participants' estimates of longer-run GDP growth. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is 4.1 percent, near the Committee's longer-run estimate, and total inflation is close to our target at just slightly above 2 percent if we put aside tariff effects that I believe will be temporary. Taken together, the data imply the policy rate should be around neutral, which the median FOMC participant estimates is 3 percent, and not where we are—1.25 to 1.50 percentage points above 3 percent. Federal Reserve's Waller Says Data Suggests Monetary Policy Should Now Be Near Neutral, Not Restrictive FED'S WALLER: I DISSENTED BECAUSE I CONCLUDED THAT CUTTING THE POLICY RATE BY 25 BASIS POINTS WAS THE APPROPRIATE STANCE OF POLICY FEDS' WALLER: BELIEVE TARIFFS ARE A ONE-TIME PRICE EVENT THAT POLICYMAKERS SHOULD 'LOOK THROUGH' AS LONG AS INFLATION EXPECTATIONS REMAIN ANCHORED,…

STRONG DISSENTS ON FED BOARD. IT WILL ONLY GET STRONGER! “TOO LATE!”