Barkin, a 2024 FOMC voting member and president of the Richmond Fed, said the Fed has time to assess whether the U.S. economy is normalizing or weakening, the latter of which will require officials to take more forceful action. Kansas Fed President Schmid said that although inflation has exceeded the target and the labor market remains healthy, he is not ready to support a rate cut. It is reported that Schmid is one of the more hawkish Fed officials. He said that inflation surged to a multi-decade high two years ago and progress needs to be carefully assessed. "We should look at the worst case scenario in the data, not the best case scenario." (Jinshi)