Fed’s Goolsbee explains vote against rate cut, says central bank should have waited

Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee explained on Friday why he voted against this week’s interest rate cut, saying policymakers should wait until they have more information before easing further.

“While I voted to lower rates at the September and October meetings, I believe we should wait to receive more data, particularly on inflation, before reducing rates further,” the policymaker said. in a post On the Chicago Fed’s website.

Goolsbee was one of three Federal Open Market Committee members to vote against the quarter-point cut, the third consecutive expansionary measure. He was joined by Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid as well as Governor Stephen Miran, who favored a steeper rate cut.

Goolsbee, who said in the past that he saw room for interest rates to drop further, said that the lack of progress in inflation now opposes taking a step in this direction.

“Given that inflation has been above our target for four and a half years, progress in this direction has stalled for several months, and nearly all of the business people and consumers we spoke to in the region recently identified prices as the main concern, I thought it would be more prudent to wait for further information.” he wrote.

Goolsbee is scheduled to appear on CNBC at 8:30 a.m. ET. There will be no voters in the FOMC in 2026, but they will continue to attend meetings.

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