Central Banks

Barkin Says Businesses, Fed on Hold Until Uncertainty Clears

Tom Barkin, president of the Richmond FedPhotographer: Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg
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Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Tom Barkin said rapid policy changes by the Trump administration have created “a sense of instability” in the business community, and the associated decline in sentiment could “quiet demand.”

“Business optimism has dropped. Consumer sentiment has fallen,” Barkin said Thursday in prepared remarks for an event at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.