The September 26,  2018 meeting statement presented the actions taken. This post covers the economic discussion during this FOMC meeting between the members (minutes were released today). An interesting quote:

 … Participants noted a number of favorable economic factors that were supporting above-trend GDP growth; these included strong labor market conditions, stimulative federal tax and spending policies, accommodative financial conditions, solid household balance sheets, and continued high levels of household and business confidence. A number of participants observed that the stimulative effects of the changes in fiscal policy would likely diminish over the next several years. A couple of participants commented that recent strong growth in GDP may also be due in part to increases in the growth rate of the economy’s productive capacity …

Analyst Opinion of these minutes

I suggest everyone read these minutes – unlike previous minutes which offered little change from the previous meeting – these minutes had morsels of new information throughout.

There was a discussion on economic risks:

… Some participants commented that trade policy developments remained a source of uncertainty for the outlook for domestic growth and inflation. The divergence between domestic and foreign economic growth prospects and monetary policies was cited as presenting a downside risk because of the potential for further strengthening of the U.S. dollar; some participants noted that financial stresses in a few EMEs could pose additional risks if they were to spread more broadly through the global economy and financial markets. With regard to upside risks, participants variously noted that high consumer confidence, accommodative financial conditions, or greater-than- expected effects of fiscal stimulus could lead to stronger-than-expected economic outcomes. Tightening resource utilization and an increasing ability of firms to raise output prices were cited as factors that could lead to higher-than-expected inflation, while lower-than-expected growth, a strengthening of the U.S. dollar, or inflation expectations persistently running below 2 percent were mentioned as risks that could lead to lower inflation.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email