On July 31, this week, two Federal Reserve officials voted against the decision to hold interest rates steady and warned that if they act too slowly in tackling inflation, they may later be forced to take more aggressive policy measures. Cleveland Fed President Hammack said in a statement on Friday: 'The longer high inflation persists, the more difficult and costly it may become to bring it back down.' Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari said in another statement that he 'would prefer to gradually tighten policy while further data on inflation and employment trends come in' to address the risk of persistently high inflation. Both Fed officials noted that the factors currently driving inflation include multiple supply shocks. Hammack said she sees pressure on the demand side of the economy as well. Kashkari said the Fed's policy tools can effectively address supply-side inflation, just as they did in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He and Hammack both noted that the overall economy remains strong, with unemployment at a low level. (Jin Shi)