Tim Duy, Columnist

Fed Surprise? Keep an Eye on Inflation Comments

Chair Jerome Powell may be dropping hints that the central bank needs to turn more dovish after years of falling short of its target.

January 28, 2020 at 6:15 PM UTC

By Tim Duy

Tim Duy is a professor of practice and senior director of the Oregon Economic Forum at the University of Oregon and the author of Tim Duy's Fed Watch.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is struggling to spur inflation.
Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg

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On the surface, this week’s Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting will likely yield little in the way of new information. The Fed will hold its key interest rate constant and make few changes in the accompanying statement explaining the reasons for standing pat. Even so, there are a few potential risks that can’t be ignored by market participants.

One of those risks is that Chair Jerome Powell’s comments on inflation tilt dovish at his press conference following the conclusion of the meeting. In particular, keep an eye out for signs that the Fed’s policy review will culminate with a more aggressive commitment to meeting its 2% inflation objective .