According to Odaily Planet Daily, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell may push for at least a 25 basis point rate cut at a meeting later this month. However, he and others may push for a larger rate cut due to the weak labor market.
Kathy Bostjancic, senior vice president and chief economist at Nationwide, said Powell doesn’t need a consensus at the September meeting to start cutting rates, but he may be more inclined to do so, especially for the first cut.
Betsey Stevenson, a former Labor Department economist, believes that consensus is a way to prevent the Fed from becoming politicized, and if she were on the FOMC, she would prioritize consensus.
Dan North, senior economist at Allianz Trade Americas, said it would be difficult for Powell to build consensus for a larger rate cut and there would be a lot of opposition, which would look bad.
Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG, believes Powell may be willing to take that risk. Swonk said Powell is more worried about the labor market than his colleagues and wants a soft landing. The question is whether he will push hard for a 50 basis point rate cut and how much opposition he is willing to accept to achieve that goal.
