As investors, businesses and policymakers weigh the outlook for interest rates, inflation and growth, the path ahead for the world's largest economy remains a defining question for global markets. The U.S. Federal Reserve is facing increasingly intense questioning from economists and financial markets about its commitment under new Chairman Kevin Warsh to bring cost pressures down, with inflation sitting above its 2% target for more than five years.
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Governor Christopher Waller, now in his sixth year as a U.S. central banker, has so far supported Warsh-led decisions to hold interest rates steady, but speculation is growing about whether he will join the ranks of Federal Open Market Committee colleagues dissenting in favour of a rate hike. That critical question and more are on the agenda as Reuters Senior Federal Reserve Correspondent Howard Schneider talks with Waller about the outlook for inflation, the U.S. economy more broadly and the Fed's policy response to it all.
