January 2018 FOMC Meeting Minutes: Trump Tax Changes May Accelerate The Economy And The Next Federal Funds Increase

The 31 January 2018 meeting statement presented the actions taken. This post covers the economic discussion during this FOMC meeting between the members (minutes were released today).

There was considerable discussion on inflation and timing on the next federal funds rate increase, and an interesting quote:

… the effects of recently enacted tax changes–while still uncertain–might be somewhat larger in the near term than previously thought. Several others suggested that the upside risks to the near-term outlook for economic activity may have increased. A majority of participants noted that a stronger outlook for economic growth raised the likelihood that further gradual policy firming would be appropriate. …

Analyst Opinion of these minutes

These meeting minutes continue to contain an inordinate discussion on inflation. To me it seems they care more about survey based data than hard data.

The interesting points are highlighted in bold below. Econintersect publishes below the views of the FOMC members, and ignores the reports given to the members. We are looking for a glimpse of insight into the minds of the FOMC members.