Federal Reserve Governor Waller said he does not want premature rate hikes that
could trigger a recession, but warned the Fed should avoid repeating the mistake
of delaying action while price pressures rise. He said the labor market is far
less overheated than during the 2022–23 tightening and there are credible
reasons to expect inflation to continue falling without additional tightening,
but evidence that firms and investors expect that decline is insufficient to
justify waiting. Waller warned that if the Fed waits until confidence fades it
will have to raise rates more aggressively and said the central bank cannot
afford to ignore inflation until it disappears.
