The Fed’s Confusing Message About Interest Rate Increases

The Fed’s Confusing Message About Interest Rate Increases

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES:

Economists always warn, correctly, not to make too much of any single economic report, but rather to analyze new information in terms of longer-term trends.

At the same time, Federal Reserve officials, up to and including Fed chair and ace economist Janet Yellen, keep saying they will raise interest rates this year as long as there are no rude surprises in the economic data – as if Fed policy depends on the next data point, the next report.