Some Federal Reserve officials, who were surprised by inflation’s rapid descent in 2023, seem to be setting a new bar for interest-rate cuts: a broader pullback in price pressures. Last week, both Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin and Boston Fed President Susan Collins indicated they not only want the decline in inflation to continue — like many other officials have said — but also to broaden more meaningfully to housing and other services, given the recent slowing was driven more by goods. “Are they making a new benchmark, changing the goalposts? It sure seems like it,” said Michael Skordeles, head of US ... (full story)