FED_SPEECH · May 8, 2026 · 12:00 ET
Fed Speech · Waller
Released
Fed Speech · Waller is scheduled for May 8, 2026 at 12:00 ET. The actual figure appears here after the official release.
About this release
Fed governors and regional presidents speak at conferences and testimony. Because policy runs on expectations, these remarks are the committee’s expectation-management channel between meetings.
Between meetings, Fed officials steer expectations through speeches — the chair and voting members can move markets mid-sentence.
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What the statement says
Neutral: Waller's speech focuses on operational efficiency reforms at the Federal Reserve, with no change to monetary policy stance
- Clearly distinguishes monetary policy from daily operations: Waller states 'most System employees are engaged in operations... not connected to monetary policymaking', and reforms target only back-office functions like IT, HR, financial management, and payments
- Introduces a 'region-specific vs. standardizable functions' framework: Region-specific functions include Presidents' FOMC voting, local research, community outreach, supervision, and discount window operations; standardizable ones like HR will be centrally provided by one Reserve Bank under service-level agreements
- Affirms operational independence remains intact: 'the Reserve Banks still have control over all operations—their operational independence is not diluted'
- Calls for governance shift to 'System first, Bank second': Requires Presidents and First VPs to abandon 'Bank first, System second' mindset and accept that consensus-based decision-making 'is not obviously successful when running complex and critical operations'
AI-generated summary of the official text. The official statement is authoritative. Not investment advice.
Figures as published by the official source, which is authoritative. Not investment advice.