Lorie Logan was not among the Federal Open Market Committee members who dissented at the FOMC’s October policy meeting in favor of a quarter-point rate hike.
Those contrarian votes belonged to Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack and Lisa Cook, a central bank governor who is scheduled to appear at an unorthodox White House hearing in December over unproven allegations of mortgage fraud.
But Logan, who serves as president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, believes “at least two more 25-basis-point rate increases” are needed to address above-target inflation, which clocked in at 3.6% in September based on the Fed’s preferred measure.
During remarks at North Carolina’s Davidson College on Friday, Logan said it is “unacceptable” that inflation has exceeded the Fed’s 2% target for nearly six years.
“Higher prices drain the wallets of parents buying groceries to feed their kids and young people paying rent on their first apartments. Unpredictable increases in input costs make it more difficult for companies to plan investments and create jobs,” Logan said. “And inflation burdens taxpayers who finance public services, schools and the national defense. We must restore price stability.”
With that inflationary fallout in mind, Logan defended the FOMC’s October decision to hold interest rates steady, noting geopolitical uncertainty and volatility in the tech investment space.
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“In such an environment, adjusting policy more gradually can help households, businesses and market participants adapt to higher rates and reduce the risk that economic activity deteriorates more sharply than necessary,” she stated. “Moreover, as long as market participants understand the FOMC’s policy plans, the precise timing of each rate increase has little effect on the longer-term rates most borrowers pay.”
In calling for multiple rate hikes at future meetings, Logan departed from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s policy of not telegraphing future policy moves.
“Skipping a meeting does not change the monetary policy destination,” she said. “Indeed, by making the destination clear, the FOMC can better help the economy adapt and obtain the promised benefits of a skip.”
In separate remarks Friday at a Shadow Open Market Committee meeting in New York, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem judged that “additional firming of monetary policy will be necessary, and soon.”
Musalem is currently a non-voting member of the FOMC. He will cycle into a voting role in 2028.
“Incremental adjustments made earlier are usually less disruptive than larger and abrupt actions taken later,” Musalem said, according to prepared remarks. “Moving sooner in smaller steps while inflation expectations are anchored has a better chance of succeeding without adverse impact on the labor market or economic growth.”




