Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee told a Leadership Greater Chicago audience on Monday that services inflation has accelerated in recent months, complicating claims that price pressures are being driven only by tariffs. He said the Federal Reserve faces what he described as an “inflation failure”, framing the policy challenge as primarily about getting price growth back under control rather than responding to a weakening economy.
Stable Growth and Inflation Dynamics
Goolsbee said employment and overall growth remain stable, while consumer spending has been the main engine of expansion.
Broader Inflation Concerns Beyond Trade
He added that inflation is beginning to “kick up” in services and pointed to data centres as an area that looks like old-fashioned overheating, reinforcing his view that the inflation problem is broader than trade-related costs.
