Fed Governor Jerome H. Powell’s address “Recent Economic Developments, Monetary Policy Considerations and Longer-term Prospects” included commentary on Brexit.
My baseline expectation has been that our economy is likely to continue on its path of growth at around 2 percent. I have also expected the ongoing healing in labor markets to continue, with healthy wage increases and job creation. As the economy tightens, I have expected that inflation will move up over time to the Committee’s 2 percent objective.
For some time, the principal risks to that outlook have been from abroad. Global economic and financial conditions are particularly important for the U.S. economy at the moment. Weakness in economic activity around the world and related bouts of financial volatility have weighed on the performance of our economy. Given the stronger performance of the U.S. economy, the trade-weighted value of the dollar has risen roughly 20 percent since 2014. Such a large appreciation of the dollar means that we will “export” some of our strength to our trading partners and “import” some of their weakness.
Growth and inflation remain stubbornly low for most of our major trading partners. European and Japanese authorities have limited scope to respond, with daunting longer-run fiscal challenges and policy rates already set below zero. In China, stimulus measures should support growth in the near term, but may also slow China’s necessary transition away from its export- and investment-led business model. Emerging market nations such as Brazil, Russia and Venezuela face challenging conditions.
These global risks have now shifted even further to the downside, with last week’s referendum on the United Kingdom’s status in the European Union. The Brexit vote has the potential to create new headwinds for economies around the world, including our own. The risks to the global outlook were somewhat elevated even prior to the referendum, and the vote has introduced new uncertainties. We have said that the Federal Reserve is carefully monitoring developments in global financial markets, in cooperation with other central banks. We are prepared to provide dollar liquidity through our existing swap lines with central banks, as necessary, to address pressures in global funding markets, which could have adverse implications for our economy. Although financial conditions have tightened since the vote, markets have been functioning in an orderly manner. And the U.S. financial sector is strong and resilient. As our recent stress tests show, our largest financial institutions continue to build their capital and strengthen their balance sheets.
It is far too early to judge the effects of the Brexit vote. As the global outlook evolves, it will be important to assess the implications for the U.S. economy, and for the stance of policy appropriate to foster continued progress toward our objectives of maximum employment and price stability.
I am often asked why rates remain so low now that we are near full employment. A big part of the answer is that, at least for the time being, the appropriate level of rates is simply lower than it was before the crisis. As a result, policy is not as stimulative as it might appear to be. Estimates of the real interest rate needed to keep the economy on an even keel if it were operating at 2 percent inflation and full employment–the “neutral rate” of interest–are currently around zero. Today, the real short term interest rate is about negative 1-1/4 percent, so policy is actually only moderately stimulative. I anticipate that the neutral rate will move up over time, as some of the headwinds that have weighed on economic growth ease.
