Sumber: The Fed | Editor: Hasbi Maulana
In some Districts, surveys or business contacts reported increases in nonwage costs, particularly in the cost of materials, and in a few Districts, contacts reported passing on some of those costs in the form of higher prices. Contacts in a few Districts suggested that widely known, observable cost increases--such as those associated with rising commodity prices--would be more likely to be accepted and passed through to final goods prices than would less observable costs such as wage increases. A few participants argued that either an absence of pricing power among at least some firms--perhaps stemming from globalization and technological innovations, including ones that facilitate price comparisons--or the ability of firms to find ways to cut costs of production has been damping inflationary pressures. Many participants stated that recent readings from indicators on inflation and inflation expectations increased their confidence that inflation would rise to the Committee's 2 percent objective in coming months and then stabilize around that level; others suggested that downside risks to inflation were subsiding. In contrast, a few participants cautioned that, despite increases in market-based measures of inflation compensation in recent months and the stabilization of some survey measures of inflation expectations, the levels of these indicators remained too low to be consistent with the Committee's 2 percent inflation objective.
In their discussion of developments in financial markets, some participants observed that financial conditions remained accommodative despite the rise in market volatility and repricing of assets that had occurred in February. Many participants reported that their contacts had taken the previous month's turbulence in stride, alÂthough a few participants suggested that financial developments over the intermeeting period highlighted some downside risks associated with still-high valuations for equities or from market volatility more generally. A few participants expressed concern that a lengthy period in which the economy operates beyond potential and financial conditions remain highly accommodative could, over time, pose risks to financial stability.
