- Wharton's Jeremy Siegel thinks the US economy is past the peak of inflation.
- He said he still expects the Fed to hike rates by another 75-basis points this month.
- But the central bank needs to be very careful in order to prevent an economic slowdown.
The US has weathered the worst of the scorching inflation stinging the economy, but that won't stop the Federal Reserve from delivering further rate hikes, according to Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel.
In CNBC interview on Wednesday, Siegel said: "I think most of our inflation is behind us," adding that the Fed could lift rates by another 75-basis points this month.
He warns however, that the central bank needs to be forward looking when trying to tackle inflation so that it doesn't hurt the economy long-term which he said is already really slowing.
"We've slammed down the monetary brakes. The money supply, the deposits in banks, to absolutely flatten [inflation] out and I have not seen that in any of the statistics that I have been following for the last 50 years," Siegel said.
He continued. "That's very good for forward-looking, but it also means that you've got to be very careful about what the means for the economy," he said.
Inflation came in hotter than expected in June, with the US Consumer Price Index climbing 9.1% from the previous year. The reading exceeded economists' prediction for a rise of 8.8%. Such fast price growth was unsurprisingly driven by soaring energy prices that climbed 7.5% through June alone.
That said, gas prices have been falling quickly after reaching a record high of $5 a gallon meaning energy prices should improve next month. And prices of other key commodities, such as copper, lumber and nickel, have tumbled.
Siegel echoed those sentiments, saying that this latest inflation reading could reflect that the surge in price pressures to 41-year highs has peaked.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/85NIBGP
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