Fed's Cook warns tariffs could lower productivity, feed inflation

From aol.com

President Donald Trump's unfolding trade policy may curb U.S. productivity and possibly require higher interest rates to contain inflation in a less efficient economy, Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook said on Friday. "I expect to see a drag on productivity in the near term stemming from the recent changes to trade policy and the related uncertainty," Cook said in remarks prepared for a delivery at an economics conference at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Uncertainty around Trump's plans could discourage investment, Cook said, while the rising cost of imported intermediate goods and equipment could also ... (full story)