The Fed Chair leads policy but cannot dictate it. They must build consensus within the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), where dissents are not uncommon. History shows chairs like Volcker and Bernanke faced significant internal resistance and had to aggressively persuade members to follow their lead.
The current macroeconomic environment is unusually difficult to interpret. Key indicators are contradictory: nonfarm payrolls are weak, suggesting a slowing economy, while aggregate spending data (GDP, consumer spending) remains solid. This forces the Fed to make difficult judgment calls on which signals to prioritize when setting policy.
History suggests that if inflation remains high for too long, it can alter public psychology. Businesses may become less hesitant to raise prices, and consumers may grow more accepting of them. This shift can create a self-perpetuating feedback loop, or 'snowball' effect, making inflation much harder for the central bank to control.
A strong argument suggests that robust economic spending combined with weak labor growth points to higher productivity, potentially from AI. Because productivity gains are disinflationary over the long term, this could give the Fed justification to lower interest rates now without worrying as much about current inflation levels.