Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic in an interview with Dow Jones / MarketWatch (may be gated):
- said his suggestion that the central bank take a September “pause” in its push to raise interest rates should not be construed in any way as a “Fed put,” or belief that the central bank would come to the rescue of markets.
- said the notion of any sort of “Fed put” was never a factor in his thinking.
- “I think it’s a good tale on some level for story books, but it’s not driving how I’m thinking about policy,”
- said a pause might be a good idea because the market’s response to the Fed’s shift to raising rates “was far stronger than what we’ve historically seen.”