Fed's Powell (moderate, FOMC voter): A 25 bps rate hike will not have a major impact on the economy; rising rates is a sign of Fed's confidence in the economy; the Fed was not backed into a corner on this rate hike
- The right policy is to start now and continue to raise rates gradually
- Want to see continued progress in the labor market and in inflation
- There has been too much focus on the timing of the first rate hike
- The economy has recovered quite a bit since the financial crisis, the the improvement has not been uniform across the US
- The Fed can cut rates back to the zero bound if it should become necessary, that's "not impossible"