At this point, if the economy continues where it is, I would probably say we should keep things the way they are, but, I am very attuned to the downside risks to this economy.

Loretta Mester

Categorized in : Business

I don't have to say today, in fact, I really think it's important that we really look at the incoming information that we are going to get as we work up to the end-of-the month meeting.

We have three weeks: We're going to gather more data, we are going to look at what the economy is, if you were ever data-dependent, you are uber data-dependent now.

You want to be very cognizant of the fact that we are already at neutral, unless the economy takes a turn for the worse.

Payroll growth slowed considerably in May, raising the question of whether we were at the start of a reversal from the considerable progress that's been made in labor markets, or whether the weak reading was the type of transitory change we typically see during expansions, hiring rebounded in June, alleviating that concern.

It was prudent to take the first step on the path of gradual norm... by Loretta Mester

It was prudent to take the first step on the path of gradual normalization of interest rates.

We try to be as clear as possible about the rationale behind our... by Loretta Mester

We try to be as clear as possible about the rationale behind our decisions.

Given the cross currents in the economy, different people can have different views ... which is really reflective of what the committee's decision-making is.

If effective monetary policy means taking away the punch bowl just as the party gets going, then effective financial stability policy might mean taking away the punch bowl before the guests have even arrived because the risks to financial stability build up over time and action likely needs to be taken earlier in order to be effective.

I want to take the time I have between now and the September meeting to evaluate all the economic information that's come in, including recent volatility in markets and the reasons behind that, but it hasn’t so far changed my basic outlook that the U.S. economy is solid and it could support an increase in interest rates.

It's important for the Fed to be independent in its setting of monetary policy, we want to be non-political in terms of how we evaluate monetary policy because it actually leads to better policymaking.