Mike McKee

I know you've been waiting to see data.

Chris Waller has been saying he's still in favor of cutting, as is Stephen Myron.

Where do you come down now?

I'm sure everyone out there is very glad to hear you bring back the data dogs.

It's been a while since we've heard that.

Speaking of data dogs, one dog that is barking very loudly right now is oil prices, but the Fed tends to look through that.

I would assume that you would assume that March 18th is not going to see any kind of rate move because there's still too much uncertainty.

Do you think you would have enough data by April to even make a decision one way or another?

We are, from the data that we already have, and other Fed officials have said this, expecting a bad PCE number.

Are you still thinking of that PCE inflation as residual tariff as opposed to an underlying fundamental problem with inflation?

A sentiment question.

The sentiment you get, not just from CEOs, but also from just talking to regular people in your district, you've got a situation where people are seeing gas prices go up and up and up, and now you have a really bad employment report at a time when people have already said they're worried about losing their jobs.

Are you concerned that this could tip us into the stagflationary environment?

I don't want to say recession yet, but it could cause people to pull back.

Let's end on a little bit of a positive note here.

Productivity down from the third quarter, but still 2.8% for the fourth quarter.

That's got to be something that makes you feel a little bit better.

Austin Goolsbee, thank you very much.

We'll have you back and have a name the data dogs contest.

That's right.