Wealthion Macro Bites – Fed Officials Warn Inflation Pressures Are Now Broad-Based

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee [2027 FOMC Voter] said tariff and energy supply shocks of the past 18 months (which should theoretically have had only temporary inflationary impact) are posing a persistent inflation threat which the Fed cannot ignore.  Goolsbee noted reducing aggregate demand may be the only way to restore economic balance and the process may not be painless. “Supply shocks have come more frequently, hit harder and lasted longer.  And once supply shocks to inflation become persistent, some of the logic behind ‘looking through’ no longer holds.”

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari [2026 FOMC Voter] said inflation is too high across all sectors of the economy, not just in rising oil prices. “The inflation that the American people are feeling every day is much beyond just oil prices. It’s in all aspects of the economy…So, we have tools to bring that back down.”

The European Commission published Friday a proposal to include India in in the growing list of countries explicitly barred from exporting EU metal waste (esp. aluminum scrap) under a new law to take effect May ’27.  The move comes after the Commission had ditched a plan to impose a 15% export duty on ​aluminum scrap following pressure from India (the largest buyer).  Disagreements among ​EU officials had previously diluted the trade proposal by exempting India, significantly reducing its impact.

Indonesia is aggressively advancing its plan to establish its own national commodity exchange by early ‘27, transitioning from a historical "price taker" to a global "price setter" for its vast natural resources. Backed by newly expanded regulatory oversight under the Financial Services Authority (OJK), the initiative aims to launch an official "Indonesia Reference Price" for major exports like nickel, palm oil, coal, and tin to maximize state revenues and halt transfer-pricing tax leakage.

Privately controlled Xizang Zhihui Mining and state-owned Zhaojin Nonferrous Mining signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement on Thursday to pursue joint acquisition and development of mining projects in the autonomous region of Tibet.  In a statement, Zhihui Mining said the partners would target reserves of strategic minerals including copper, molybdenum, chromium, antimony, gold, tungsten and zinc.  “Importantly for the market, the joint venture will not be restricted to Tibet.  The model, once proven, could be replicated for high-quality non-ferrous mining projects elsewhere in mainland China, further expanding the scope of investment.”

AI watch: About $18 billion in loans tied to Oracle’s 1,400 acre Project Jupiter data center campus in New Mexico have fallen to stressed levels, trading at 89 ‌to 91 cents on the dollar by syndicate banks including Santander and Jefferies.  Saty tuned…