Patrick Harker, president of the Philadelphia branch of the Federal Reserve, said he would support more than three interest rate rises this year if inflation surged higher, becoming the latest US central bank official to throw his weight behind an increase in March.
“I currently have three increases in for this year, and I’d be very open to starting in March,” Harker said in an interview with the Financial Times. “I’d be open to more if that’s required.”
The Fed official’s comments follow inflation data for December that showed the US consumer price index jumping 7 per cent year on year for the first time since 1982 — a reading Harker described as “very high, very bad”.
Later today Lael Brainard, President Joe Biden’s nominee for vice-chair of the Fed, will tell Congress that the fight against high inflation is the US central bank’s “most important task” in an embrace of its pivot towards tighter monetary policy.
“Inflation is too high, and working people around the country are concerned about how far their pay cheques will go,” said Brainard in prepared remarks released ahead of her confirmation hearing before the Senate banking committee today.
Her comments come after a similar statement from Jay Powell, Fed chair, who warned at his confirmation hearing this week that inflation was a “severe threat” to the labour market recovery.
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Thanks for reading FirstFT Americas. Here’s the rest of today’s news — Gordon
Five more stories in the news
1. Short sellers tuck into Beyond Meat Short positions in the plant-based meat producer’s shares have increased 40 per cent since late October, making it one of the most shorted companies in US markets as investors fret over weaker sales and scepticism grows over the meat-free boom.
2. Coinbase wades into crypto derivatives Coinbase is buying the fledgling futures exchange FairX to gain a foothold in cryptocurrency derivatives. The deal will complement the cryptocurrency exchange’s presence as the biggest US-based spot exchange for digital currencies.
3. HR software group pulls IPO New-York based Justworks has suspended its flotation in a sign of strains radiating from the recent sell-off in tech stocks. Justworks was expected to complete a deal to join the Nasdaq last night that would have valued it at up to $2bn but in a statement said it had put the plan on hold “due to market conditions”.
4. Epstein accuser permitted to pursue suit against Prince Andrew A civil lawsuit accusing the Duke of York of sexually abusing one of Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers will be allowed to proceed, a New York judge has ruled, in the year the Queen prepares to celebrate her Platinum jubilee.
5. Dartmouth College to ‘remove financial barriers’ for low-income foreign applicants Admission to the Ivy League university by undergraduates from around the world will from this year be selected in the same “need-blind” process as US citizens in an effort to improve the diversity of its intake.
Coronavirus digest
The Biden administration plans to distribute millions of free Covid-19 tests to schools around the US in a further effort to keep classrooms open in the face of the latest wave of coronavirus infections led by the Omicron variant.
The fate of tennis star Novak Djokovic remains in the balance after Australia’s prime minister deferred making a decision on whether to press ahead with threats to deport him.
Boris Johnson yesterday said he thought a “bring your own booze” party in the garden of his official residence in May 2020 was a “work event” as he apologised for attending the gathering. The statement came of the toughest day of the UK prime minister’s premiership.
A new artificial intelligence-based early warning system can predict the highest-risk coronavirus variants from their genetic code, according to a study.
Opinion: At-home healthcare companies need to avoid alienating customers with shortages, high prices and unmet promises, writes Brooke Masters.
The day ahead
TPG IPO Dubbed a “next-generation” private equity IPO by industry executives, shares in buyout group TPG will begin trading on the Nasdaq exchange this morning. Each share was priced last night at $29.50, valuing the Texas-based group at $9bn.
Analysis Private equity groups have been enriched by the pandemic and now many are rushing to join the public markets.
Earnings Delta kicks-off earnings season today. The airline is expected to report an increase in revenue and profits for the fourth quarter compared with the same period in 2020 as more vacationers return to the skies.
UK trade negotiations Liz Truss, the UK foreign minster who recently became the country’s chief Brexit negotiator, will hold her first face-to-face talks with EU counterpart Maros Sefcovic.
Russia-Ukraine conflict Talks between Moscow and western powers will move to Vienna today. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe will host the negotiations a day after Nato offered to hold further talks on arms control with Moscow after four hours of discussions in Brussels.
What else we’re reading
Rocco Commisso’s football woes The US cable billionaire purchased ACF Fiorentina, the well-known but underachieving Italian club, for €170m. The emotional cost? He’s still counting. “All the bullshit bureaucracy, it’s driving me crazy,” he told the FT’s Murad Ahmed.
How to recruit a better police force At a time when police violence has created bitter political battles, selecting candidates with authoritarian inclinations can have huge consequences. Gillian Tett argues that we need to shift the debate from issues such as gun control to personality.
Austrian citizenship restored to Nazi victims’ families For descendants of Jews who fled the Holocaust, a legal amendment to Austria’s nationality act making them eligible to apply for citizenship reflects changing attitudes, writes Sarah Ebner, FT head of newsletters.
Mayonnaise rebuke haunts Unilever This week a top-10 shareholder said Unilever had “lost the plot” and its management prized displaying its sustainability credentials at the expense of running the business. The comments are a sign of shareholder discontent with the pursuit of principles over profit and with sales growth lagging behind at the consumer goods group, investor anger could grow.
Fashion
To call someone’s style “preppy” can only be, at this point in the history of style, an insult. But at the same time, to say someone’s style is “Ivy” can still be complimentary. Cool brands draw inspiration from it. Serious books are written about it. None of this can be said of preppy style. But the distinction can be hard to grasp, argues Robert Armstrong.
Source: Economy - ft.com
