This morning’s inflation report will guide the Federal Reserve’s “monetary policy ship,” says University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith. But the big question isn’t whether more rate hikes are needed—it’s how high the Fed will have to go.
Snaith says: “Today’s report is another ‘star’ in a sky full of data by which the Fed will have to triangulate its policy going forward. Is inflation still moving downward, and at what pace? How many more rate hikes are going to be needed?”
Assuming June’s report shows inflation has slowed, the Fed is largely on the right course, Snaith adds. “But anything other than what’s expected today could change the path forward for what the interest rate hikes will look like.”
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Sean Snaith, Ph.D., is the director of UCF’s Institute for Economic Forecasting and a nationally recognized economist in the field of economics, forecasting, analysis and market sizing. He has been recognized by Bloomberg News as one of the country’s most accurate economic forecasters and has served as a consultant for both local governments and multi-national corporations. Before joining UCF’s College of Business, Snaith held faculty positions at Pennsylvania State University, American University in Cairo, the University of North Dakota and the University of the Pacific. More of Snaith’s work is available at http://iec.ucf.edu or you can follow him @SeanSnaith.
