Economics

Powell Is Patient But Markets Aren’t, Challenging New Fed Policy

  • Treasuries set for biggest monthly yield surge since 2016
  • Don’t be surprised to see Fed pushback on rate outlook: Perli

Jerome Powell

Photographer: Susan Walsh/AFP/Getty Images

Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

After Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell spent two days telling U.S. lawmakers the economy is in no state to be thinking about monetary tightening, financial markets suddenly started pricing in a rapid -- and perhaps too-hot -- recovery.

The axis of tension is the new policy framework the Fed put in place last year. It dictates the central bank won’t raise interest rates early on in the recovery and will intentionally overshoot its 2% inflation target -- maybe for years, while testing the limits of a hot jobs market.