Good morning. C-suite leaders have plenty to worry about, with economic uncertainty high on the list—and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell shares their concerns.
As chair, Powell said he worries about whether there will be a healthy economy for his successor to inherit. “All I want to do in what’s left of my time at the Fed is have the economy be strong, have inflation under control, and have a solid labor market,” he said. “I want to turn it over to my successor in that condition…What keeps me up at night is to do that. That’s the only thing I think about.”
Commenting on Powell’s testimony, EY-Parthenon Chief Economist Gregory Daco told me he found it important that Powell stressed that, absent tariffs, the Fed would likely have continued easing policy—confirming an underlying desire to move from a restrictive stance to a neutral one.
His advice for CFOs: “This environment calls for a strategic balancing act: maintain strong liquidity buffers, rigorously stress test downside scenarios under tighter financial conditions, and remain agile in adjusting investment plans should labor costs ease and demand growth decelerate.”
