MNI BRIEF: Hike Rates to Neutral, Then Evaluate - Fed's Barkin

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said Tuesday the Fed should decide whether to put the brakes on the economy after the fed funds rate has gotten in the neutral range of 2% to 3%.

"At 83 basis points, we are still far from the level of interest rates that constrains the economy; for my colleagues on the FOMC, this neutral rate is in the range of 2%-3%. And before the Great Recession, the economy handled rates even higher than that. Once we get in the range of the neutral rate, we can then determine whether inflation remains at a level that requires us to put the brakes on the economy or not," he said in remarks prepared for the Cecil County Chamber of Commerce.

Barkin told the MNI FedSpeak podcast Friday that he would like to see rates rise to normal as fast as feasible.