We Need Peter Doocy at a Fed Presser

The most fun anyone has had at a Jerome Powell presser was when a reporter asked about President Trump removing Powell from his job. Otherwise, almost all the questions are about when and how much the federal funds rate will be cut.

The reason we bring this up is that there are only certain reporters allowed in the Fed’s press briefing, and, other than hearings on Capitol Hill, it’s the only chance the nation has to ask questions. If a member of the Press Corp asked about New Jersey drones, they might not get invited back. But it seems to us that there are very obvious and important questions that never get asked. Who will be the Peter Doocy of the Fed Press Corp?

So, just in case there is a member of the press who is willing to push the envelope here are a few questions we suggest.

First, about two years ago the Fed drew attention to something called “SuperCore” inflation, which excludes all goods, food, energy, and housing rents. At the time, SuperCore inflation was running less hot than overall inflation. Today, the CPI version of SuperCore is up 4.3% in the past year and is running hotter than it was a year ago. The PCE version is likely to be up at least 3.5% in the year ending in November, well above the Fed’s 2.0% inflation target. And yet the Fed now seems to ignore SuperCore. What changed? Did the Fed have second thoughts about the usefulness of SuperCore? If so, why did the Fed change its mind? Or did the Fed stop talking about it because the message from SuperCore is that inflation is nowhere near stabilized?