Ex-Fed Kochlakota: Fed shouldn’t hike rates in June

Former Fed board member Kochlakota crossed the wires earlier today, via Reuters, expressing his take on the FOMC decision due to be announced in the American afternoon today.

Key Points:

Inflation data is an opportunity for the Fed to continue to provide stimulus without worrying about excessive amounts of inflation

Let's wait to see sustainable 2% inflation before we embark on tightening

I think the Fed is not putting enough weight on the fact that having more employment in the current environment would be a positive thing

There is an ability to generate more jobs without running into excessive amounts of inflation

There remains room for improvement on the economy. I think the Fed could facilitate a faster rate of improvement

Fed balance sheet should grow with the economy

Normalcy should only be defined in terms of outcomes and not in terms of the setting of the policy instruments

Fed is risking losing some job creation opportunities