Fed Governor Waller: With Core Inflation Up to 3.4%, Monetary Policy Is at a Crossroads
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J. Waller said on October 8 that spending by households and businesses has been resilient and the labor market stable, close to the FOMC's maximum-employment goal, but that inflation and monetary policy are at a crossroads. The 12-month core PCE inflation rate has risen from 3.0% in December 2025 to 3.4% in May, and inflation has run above the FOMC's 2% target for five and a half years.
Waller said one-time price increases from tariffs and oil prices can normally be looked through, but a preponderance of evidence over several months — including the super intelligence buildout driving up high-tech prices and continuing trade conflicts — led him to judge that the policy stance maintained from December 2025 through September would not return inflation to 2% in a timely manner. With economic activity strengthening in the second half of the year, he said he is not greatly concerned that tighter policy threatens a damaging slowdown, but is concerned that the recent acceleration in inflation will lead consumers, investors, and businesses to revise up their expectations. (GSM, based on the Federal Reserve speech text)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美联储总部 Eccles 大楼（华盛顿，资料照片）。照片：公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。File photo: The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington. Photo: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
