There are three kinds of policymakers at the Federal Reserve, goes the chatter in the markets: hawks, doves and chickens. It was the third type of bird that was setting policy last week, when the US central bank decided to hold interest rates at their historic low. And while market pricing — as opposed to surveys of economists — had largely anticipated the decision, the Fed still surprised in the extent of its caution, citing China, global financial uncertainties and overly low domestic inflation as reasons to stand still.
市場總是在說,美聯儲(Fed)有3種政策制定者:鷹派、鴿派和小雞派。上周制定政策的顯然是小雞派,因為美聯儲決定將利率維持在歷史最低位。盡管市場定價(而不是對經濟學家的調查)此前基本上預計到了該決定,但美聯儲的謹慎程度仍令人感到意外,這家美國央行把中國、全球金融不確定性和國內通脹過低等多項因素列為暫緩加息的理由。