Fed Will Walk a Tightrope Between SVB, Inflation
There’s nothing like bank failure to change the risk calculus, but the latest CPI numbers give the Federal Reserve little reason to not hike rates.
The question people can’t stop asking: Who’s next?
Photographer: Stephanie Keith/BloombergTo get John Authers' newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here.
The war against inflation continues, and it will have to drag on a while longer. The US consumer price index numbers for February would in other circumstances have created an intense debate over whether the Federal Reserve should hike by 25 or 50 basis points at its monetary policy meeting. Two big bank failures in succession have changed that discussion (of which more below), but there’s little in the February data to suggest that the central bank should be any less vigilant than it was planning to be.