The Fed struck a more hawkish tone last week, projecting higher inflation in 2025 than previously thought and scaling back the number of rate cuts expected next year. In an economic environment that appears to be slowing, the Fed could fall into a tailspin and revert to a more dovish stance, wrote Neil Datta, an analyst at Renaissance Macro. He suspected that expectations of the Trump administration's policies - which Mr. Powell acknowledged some Fed officials now take into account - would lead to changes in forecasts next year, with the Fed "appearing to be taking precautions against a potential tariff shock by slowing the pace of rate cuts." "This is dangerous given that the underlying momentum of the economy appears to have waned," Mr. Datta wrote.