Austan Goolsbee, the former president and CEO of the Federal ReserveFederal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said the central bank has not yet succeeded in bringing inflation down to the level it prefers.
The law gives the Fed two jobs, maximize employment, stabilize prices. We have done very well in terms of employment. We're improving on inflation, but we haven't succeeded. Inflations are still well higher than where we want it to be, Goolsbee said.
At a moment of banking crisis it will be a great relief if we raise the debt ceiling, we go back to dealing with, the matters at hand, which are the real economy side of, employment and inflation, he said.
The markets have so far focused on the debt ceiling crisis, ignoring any sound Bytes related to inflation, recession or the Federal ReserveFederal Reserve. With a tentative debt limit deal in place, Wall Street's attention will gradually move towards the central bank's June policy. Traders are forecasting a 60% probability that the Fed will hike its policy rate by 25 basis points during the next meeting.
On being asked if he wants to raise interest rates at the Fed's next policy meeting in June, Goolsbee said that as a voting member of the FOMC, he does not want to prejudge, especially when there are lots of important data scheduled to be released.
The Fed's actions, taking months or even years to work through the system, take months or even years to complete. The Federal Reserve raised the interest rate by five full percentage points over the last year. It's the fastest growth in decades, rivaling ever. And some part of that still has to work its way through the system, he said.
Cryptocurrency analyst says Bitcoin could erupt 150% this year and shatter all-time high.