On the economy, a tale of two Fed officials

• That's a contrast from his last policy speech just over a month ago called "Something's Got to Give." At the time, he cautioned booming economic growth alongside moderating inflation could not continue.

What they're saying: "I am encouraged by what we have learned in the past few weeks—something appears to be giving, and it's the pace of the economy," Waller said at the American Enterprise Institute.

• "All in all, it seems like output growth is moderating as I had hoped it would, supporting continued progress on inflation."

The other side: Fed governor Michelle Bowman was a bit more cautious, flagging a slew of risks that could keep price pressures elevated.

• "My baseline economic outlook continues to expect that we will need to increase the federal funds rate further to keep policy sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation down to our 2 percent target in a timely way," Bowman said at a banker's breakfast in Salt Lake City.
• Waller said he was "increasingly confident" that policy was "well-positioned to slow the economy and get inflation back to 2 percent."

The intrigue: In a subsequent Q&A, Waller said that rate cuts could be possible as inflation continues to drift lower.

• If progress on inflation continues for "several more months," he said, "you could then start lowering the policy rate just because inflation is lower."