Fed's cut was an 'optimistic message': Former Atlanta Fed president

The Federal Reserve kicked off its rate easing cycle yesterday with a 50 basis point cut. Former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Dennis Lockhart joins Morning Brief to discuss the move and the rate cut path ahead as the Fed eyes a soft landing for the US economy. "I think it was on balance, an optimistic message. It was not necessarily a reaction to anything particularly wrong. I think the committee is increasingly confident that that inflation is under control and they like where the labor market is and they want to protect that. So it's really not a message of reaction to things going haywire. It's more to preserve a good thing," Lockhart says of the Fed's interest rate decision. He notes that the committee being largely in agreement on the decision is "desirable" as it shows a "unified face" behind US monetary policy. Fed Chair Powell stated in his press conference Wednesday that the cut is the beginning of a "recalibration process" for the economy. Lockhart explains that this process is not a predetermined path. Rather, it will be a "meeting by meeting judgment of what the economy needs with some caution about the ability to react, perhaps with a deeper cut, if necessary, to some development that comes along." While some investors would like to see the Federal Reserve initiate another 50 basis point interest rate cut by the end of the year, Lockhart believes cuts of 25 basis points will be more appropriate as the Fed looks to preserve flexibility. "They, I think, emphasize that the 50-basis-points move yesterday was like a down payment. You could even argue it was a little bit of a catch-up from what could have been done in July," he tells Yahoo Finance.
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