Hassett Says ‘Irresponsible’ to Specify Six-Month Fed Plan (1)

White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said it would be irresponsible for the Federal Reserve to lay out a plan for where it aims to take interest rates over the next six months, emphasizing the importance of following the economic data.

“The Fed chair’s job is to watch the data and to adjust and to explain why they’re doing what they’re doing,” Hassett said on CNBC Monday. “And so to say, ‘I’m going to do this over the next six months’ would be irresponsible, really.”

Hassett, a top candidate to succeed Jerome Powell when the Fed chair’s term ...