Choosy Consumers Could Blunt Inflationary Effect of Tariffs, Barkin Says

Tom Barkin, president of the Richmond Fed, said there are many signs that consumers with low and moderate incomes are more stretched today than they were a few years ago, which could curb their spending and lessen the inflationary impact of tariffs. On the sidelines of a healthcare conference in Chicago, he ticked off some of those signs: Sales of private-label goods are up, Walmart’s earnings are good and companies report that consumers are trading down from beef to chicken. “The theory that we’re going to see inflation spike because you’ve got [tariff] costs that have to get passed on, has to go through the screen of how does the consumer react?” he said in an interview with the Journal.

Continue Reading