This is the Fed’s biggest policy risk right now.
Powell keeps repeating the same concern, inflation is still a threat and tariffs could push prices higher again.
But when you look at the actual data, the story looks very different.
The Fed only has two core mandates: unemployment and inflation. And right now, both are moving in the direction that normally justifies easing, not prolonged tight policy.
Starting with inflation, headline CPI is now around 2.4%, the lowest level since May 2025.
Core CPI is sitting near 2.5%, the lowest since early 2021, almost five years back when the economy had just started reopening from lockdowns.
So inflation is not accelerating, it is cooling steadily.
Now look at TARIFFS, which Powell has repeatedly warned could push inflation higher. Tariff revenue already peaked around September October 2025.
Monthly collections hit record highs and have declined since. Some tariffs, especially on food imports have already been rolled back, and there have been no major new tariff expansions.
Which means the tariff driven inflation impulse has likely already passed through the system.
But while inflation is cooling, the labor market is weakening.
Job growth for 2025 was revised down sharply from around 584,000 jobs added to just 181,000 for the entire year. That means average monthly job growth was roughly 15,000, the weakest non-recession hiring year since 2003.
Hiring rates are now sitting near multi-year lows, job openings have fallen significantly, and economists are already describing current conditions as a hiring recession.
A large share of job growth came from healthcare alone, meaning broader labor demand is much weaker beneath the surface.
Outside labor, other parts of the economy are also showing strain. Housing sales are sitting near 30-year lows as elevated mortgage rates continue to suppress demand.
Corporate bankruptcies have climbed to the highest levels since 2010, rising steadily every year since rate hikes began.
High borrowing costs are starting to pressure balance sheets across sectors.
Consumer stress is building as well.
Credit card debt is at record highs, delinquency rates are rising, and subprime auto loan defaults have reached the highest levels ever recorded.
Lower income households are facing the most pressure, which historically shows up late in tightening cycles.
And this brings us to the policy mistake risk.
In 2020–2021, the Fed kept QE running for too long. Even after the economy reopened, stimulus continued and liquidity stayed elevated.
Inflation eventually spiraled out of control, peaking at 9.1% in 2022, the highest in over four decades. The Fed then had to tighten aggressively, triggering a broad market crash.
The S&P fell over 25%, Bitcoin dropped more than 60%, and the total crypto market lost trillions. Powell later admitted the Fed should have ended QE earlier.
Now the risk is the mirror image.
Back then, the Fed stayed dovish too long. This time, they may be staying hawkish too long. Rates remain restrictive even as inflation cools and labor conditions weaken.
Cuts have been slow and delayed. Economists like Mohamed El-Erian have already warned the Fed may be “late again,” but in the opposite direction this cycle.
Because policy works with a lag, the danger is timing.
By the time the Fed recognizes economic damage is deep enough to require faster easing, the deterioration may already be widespread, across labor, credit, housing, and corporate balance sheets.
And recoveries from overtightening do not happen quickly. They take years, not months.
That is why this cycle matters.
Last time, the Fed reacted late to inflation. This time, the risk is reacting late to economic slowdown and markets may price that damage in before policy catches up.