Fed Speak: Pause vs. Pivot

(This post was posted in Nov 2022) The Federal Reserve’s November 2022 statement contained dovish language, but Fed Chair Powell warned investors not to expect the Fed to stray from its full focus on fighting inflation. Upside inflation led the U.S. Federal Reserve to hike its policy rate by 75 basis points (bps) for a historic fourth time. This brought the fed funds rate up to a 3.75%–4% range, meaningfully above the Fed’s 2.5% median long-run estimate, as inflation continues to justify monetary policy with the objective to tame inflation. In spite of continued inflation, the Fed also indicated