Catherine Ann Edwards

So looking for those type of even small changes to their basically their projections or their concerns or their beliefs about the economy, those small things can trigger big cues about what is going on at the Fed and their thought process.

They have to process both an incredible amount of information, some of it coming in the form of just data.

Here are the numbers.

Here's how they look over time.

They do a lot of data collection that's much more informal, like commentary from industry leaders, people in certain sectors.

And then they have to combine that with their overall projections of where they think the economy is going to go.

That's hard to do even in the best or worst of times.

when you are independent and people are leaving you alone.

What's happening right now is the microscope of political pressure that every move is seen as something for or against Trump because he has decided that the Fed should be under his control.

It's really unprecedented in the Fed's independent history to have so much pressure from a sitting president.