The two moods central bankers get sorted into: hawkish wants tighter policy, dovish wants looser.
Central bankers get labeled hawkish or dovish depending on which side of the inflation-versus-growth tradeoff they lean toward. A hawkish official worries more about inflation and tends to favor higher interest rates, even if that risks slowing the economy. A dovish official worries more about jobs and growth and tends to favor lower rates, even if inflation stays a bit warmer than target. Almost every Fed speech or vote gets filtered through this lens, and a committee's overall lean can shift market expectations before a single rate has actually moved.
Part of the Open Bell Glossary — plain-English explanations of the terms that come up on the show. Browse every term.