Neel Kashkari on interest rates
From Neel Kashkari, President of the Minneapolis Fed, on Tariffs and More · · FRONTLINE PBS | Official
“If we lower rates when the economic fundamentals don't justify it, it's going to push up inflation and then people are already suffering from their affordability is hurt by high inflation. And if inflation were to go higher from here, things would become even less affordable.”
On , Neel Kashkari, President at Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, spoke about interest rates during Neel Kashkari, President of the Minneapolis Fed, on Tariffs and More on FRONTLINE PBS | Official.
About Neel Kashkari
Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said in March 2026 that inflation was running at about a 3% rate, which he described as a "50% miss" relative to the Fed's 2% target. He stated that inflation had been above the target for five years and that this should make any central banker cautious about lowering rates further. Kashkari said that if the Fed lowered rates when economic fundamentals did not justify it, it would push up inflation and make things less affordable. He also said that if central bank independence were lost, the American people would feel it in higher inflation year after year. In May 2026, Kashkari said the Iran conflict had "upended the inflation environment" and created more upside risk on inflation, while the labor market appeared to be "treading water." He said the Fed was committed to getting inflation back to its 2% target in a reasonable period of time while planning for a wide range of outcomes. Kashkari described the national debt at around 100% of GDP as "quite high by American historical standards" and said no one knows where the danger zone is. He also described cryptocurrency as "ESG for libertarians," saying that after a dozen years, nobody had found a use case for it.