Susan Collins

Well, you know, that underlying inflation, I was quite confident a year ago that that trajectory was back down to restoring price stability.

And in terms of what I hear around the district, high price level and concern about inflation is one of the number one things that I hear about, which is one of the reasons I'm so focused on the importance.

of that side of the mandate, as well as maximum employment.

But you know, the tariff impacts are significant, and we have done analysis in the Boston Fed, understanding that it's not just direct imports, but the range of goods and services that rely on imported intermediate goods as well.

A much broader range, it would surprise many people how many kinds of services actually use imported intermediates as part of what's happening there.

And so we are anticipating that over the next couple of quarters, so the rest of this year into early next year,

Inflation is going to remain elevated.

And then my baseline would be it would start to come back down.

But I don't rule out a larger and more persistent impact.

Well, it's about the balance, right?

I mean, the inflation side, and again, that is what I hear about in every conversation I have across the first district, which is most of New England.

And so it's about balancing

That commitment to restoring price stability with an understanding that preserving healthy labor markets also really matters for the public.

And so doing that balance, I would say it's not a done deal in terms of what we do at the next meeting, but a range of possibilities is on the table, and we're going to get more data between now and then.

Well, so from my perspective, the risks on the two sides have come into rough balance.

And so that's a really complex context for monetary policy when you could see the unemployment rate rising and you could see higher inflation.

You know, my baseline is not one that is as concerned about inflation expectations rising at the moment.

Earlier in the year, I had more concerns about that.

I would say that at the moment monetary policy is kind of modestly restrictive.

That's actually appropriate for a period when inflation is elevated.