Michael McKee

Companies, I know, have been telling you and your colleagues for some time that they're waiting for clarity, especially on fiscal policy going forward.

which doesn't seem to necessarily be coming.

Are any of them saying we're kind of at a point now where we have to raise prices to keep up with our input prices or we have to cut back on people because our margins are compressing?

The labor market, how fragile is it?

We've seen a lot of layoff announcements over the past couple of weeks.

Is this a gathering trend?

Are we going to start talking about the SOM rule again?

In terms of supply problems in the labor market, monetary policy can't affect that.

Now, there are two arguments that seems to be at the Fed right now.

One is that we need to get ahead of a brewing problem, especially in the labor market.

And the other is if you're in a dark room, you want to move carefully and maybe pause.

Which one do you think carries more weight?

Well, to the extent that they know, what are companies telling you about monetary policy?

Do they say that we're going to have to raise prices or cut employees if you don't cut interest rates?

Well, we hear a lot from your colleagues.

We heard from Chair Powell about the risk of cutting too fast versus the risk of not cutting soon enough.

What about the risk to credibility if you cut, but then inflation doesn't go down and you have to start thinking about raising rates again?

We've only got about 30 seconds left.

Markets are up this morning.

They're cheered by the possibility of a shutdown deal.