EXCERPT:
POWELL: “My gut tells me that uncertainty about the path of the economy is extremely elevated and that the downside risks have increased. The risk is, as we pointed out in our statement, the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen, but they haven’t materialized yet. They really haven’t. They’re really not in the data yet. So, and that tells me more than by intuition because I think it’s obvious, actually, that the right thing for us to do is we are in a good place, our policy’s in a very good place, and the right thing to do is await further clarity. And there’s usually things clarify and the appropriate direction becomes clear. That’s what usually happens. Right now it’s very hard to say what that would be. In the meantime, the economy is doing fine. Our policy isn’t — you know, it’s not highly restrictive. It’s somewhat restrictive. It’s 100 basis points less restrictive than it was last summer so we think it’s in a good place and we think the appropriate thing is for us to wait and see and get more clarity about the direction of the economy.”