Why the Dallas Fed Prez Voted Against the Interest Rate Cut. Something About Tequila, Punch and Whisky.

Dallas Fed prez Richard Fisher

Last week, in advance of the Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day get-together, we learned a few things about Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher — like, oh, he’s a big Robert Earl Keen fan. Today, courtesy Dow Jones’ Marketwatch, we learn why he was the only person on the committee to vote last week against the half-percentage-point cut in U.S. interest rates.

Something about how “he was worried the Federal Reserve was putting too much tequila in the punchbowl.” Followed by something about how “monetary policy acts with a lag, much like ‘good single malt whisky or perhaps truly great tequila,’ Fisher told an audience in Mexico City.” That is the kind of economics talk I can understand, but just barely. –Robert Wilonsky