MNI FedSpeak Podcasts

Robert Asselin, adviser to the Business Council of Canada and previously to the prime minister and finance minister, says the central bank likely needs high-for-long interest rates that will further crimp badly needed investment. He also says a recent cabinet shuffle put communication ahead of strong policy as Justin Trudeau girds for the next election.

The Federal Reserve is likely to keep tightening monetary policy despite an economy that is already effectively in a downturn, which is being masked by rising consumer borrowing and strong fiscal policy, former Dallas Fed advisor Danielle DiMartino Booth told MNI.

Money market funds are buying Treasuries again, leaving enough liquidity in the banking system for QT to continue for at least two more years, ​former New York Fed trader Joseph Wang tells FedSpeak.

Joseph Tracy, former senior adviser to Fed presidents Robert Kaplan and Bill Dudley, says it will most likely take a mild recession to rein in inflation.

Royal LePage Real Estate Services COO Karen Yolevski says many younger Canadian buyers feel the pressure to buy amid a lack of supply before prices become completely out of reach, even as they also feel the pinch of higher interest rates.

Robert Kaplan, former Dallas Fed President, worries the ripples from robust fiscal policy are making the Fed's job harder, and could yet force it to hike rates up to 6%.

Ex-IMF chief economist Simon Johnson says inflation is coming down quickly enough for the Fed to remain patient as it ponders possible additional rate hikes. We also talked about his new book, 'Power and Progress,' which takes a skeptical look at the idea that technological advances automatically make everyone better off.

Ex-Fed board economist and Peterson Institute fellow Joseph Gagnon discusses his outlook on Fed policy, inflation and employment. He thinks Fed rates will go a bit higher but the central bank will eventually pause as inflation ebbs at the end of 2023. 

Ex-NY Fed economist Dominque Dwor-Frecaut expects a sharp drawdown of reserves as the Treasury rebuilds its cash balances after the debt ceiling resolution. She also explains why the Fed will likely have to raise rates much higher to bring inflation under control.

Wages have not been a major driver of inflation thus far, and growth in pay has benefited those at the bottom of the income ladder, Minneapolis Fed economist Abigail Wozniak tells MNI.