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John Williams

Vice Chair, Federal Reserve Board Of Governors

Search every verified John Williams interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. John Williams, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, has recently discussed the state of the U.S. economy and monetary policy in public appearances. At the London Macro Policy Forum in October 2026, he addressed the Federal Open Market Committee's unanimous decision to hold interest rates steady, saying the committee had a "robust discussion" of its goals and that the economy has shown "remarkable resilience" despite significant shocks. He also spoke about the challenge of determining the neutral real interest rate, stating that "the honest answer is I don't think we know" what it is, and noted that the Fed's corporate bond facility during the pandemic served as an example of intervening in dysfunctional markets and exiting cleanly. In a September 2026 interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box," Williams attributed rising bond yields to a strong U.S. economy and investment in AI, data centers, and technology, rather than to inflation expectations. He emphasized that achieving 2% inflation on a sustained basis is "job number one" for the Fed and that "nobody else can do that for us." He identified tariffs and the effects of the Middle East conflict on energy prices as the biggest drivers of inflation, which he said was running around 3.3% in core terms, and expressed support for the Fed's decision not to raise rates at its last meeting while analyzing incoming data.

Recent appearances

Notable quotes

“So the honest answer is I don't think we know, and I don't think any of us know. If you think about the economics of what a neutral real interest rate or a natural rate of interest is, it's really about what's the price of either savings or credit or borrowing that equates supply and demand, investment and saving, not only nationally but across the globe. Today we're really focused on the investment side, and I think”

“So first of all, as you mentioned, this was a unanimous decision of the Federal Open Market Committee. We had a very robust discussion of all the things that are happening both in terms of our maximum employment and our price stability goals. To me, it's really about the evolution of the data. We've seen a remarkable resilience in the US economy despite some significant shocks. On the inflation front, that's where th”

“Whether you look at the unemployment rate or wage growth, these are not factors pushing up inflation at all. I feel like we're at a good place for that.”

“I do expect underlying inflation eventually later this year to start coming back down because the effects of the tariffs on inflation will start to weigh.”

“To my mind, monetary policy today is really well positioned given where all of those dynamics have been playing out and well positioned to wait and see on some of the effects. This monetary policy is exactly where it needs to be and then we can respond if the situation changes.”

“I expect headline inflation to actually be elevated in the middle of this year. My view on inflation is we're looking at inflation rate for the year as a whole of something like 2 and 3/4%. But of course it depends what happens with energy prices.”

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