Jerome Powell, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, during a news conference following a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday suggested the central bank is nearing a point where it will stop reducing the size of its bond holdings, but gave no long-run indication of where interest rates are heading.Speaking to the National Association for Business Economics' conference in Philadelphia, Powell provided a ...

Group 1 - The Director of the National Economic Council, Kevin Hasset, endorsed the Federal Reserve's decision to implement a 25 basis point cut, indicating a preference for a more conservative approach rather than additional cuts [1] - The discussion highlights the importance of independent analysis in monetary policy decisions, emphasizing that personal views from advisors should not dictate policy [1] - There is ongoing debate regarding the size of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet and its implications for mortgage rates and housing markets [1] Group 2 - The size of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet is viewed as a symptom of underlying regulatory frameworks rather than a target in itself, suggesting that regulatory considerations should guide balance sheet size [2] - The appropriate size of the balance sheet is linked to the need for sufficient reserves in the banking system to prevent liquidity issues and ensure bank capitalization [2] - The focus should shift upstream to the regulatory system to determine the right balance sheet size, rather than concentrating solely on the balance sheet itself [2]