(Bloomberg) -- Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman sees good reasons for the Federal Reserve to consider pausing its interest-rate increases to assess the effects of its hikes on the US economy so far this year.

“My view is that the Fed has probably done enough already, and that they really, really should pause and wait to see,” Krugman said Friday on “Balance of Power” with David Westin on Bloomberg Television. “If we get another good CPI report, then there’s going to be a lot of soul-searching at the Fed, saying, ‘are we really being way too hawkish?’” 

Krugman spoke a day after a government report showed that the consumer price index rose by less than forecast last month, fueled by declines in the price gauges of medical care services and used vehicles. Meanwhile, a separate report out Friday showed an increase in Americans’ short- and long-term inflation expectations.

The Fed has embarked on the most aggressive tightening cycle since the 1980s this year in an effort to tame decades-high inflation. The central bank raised interest rates by 75 basis points for a fourth straight time last week, but is expected to moderate the pace of hiking as soon as next month following the cooler-than-expected inflation report.

“The number you see for inflation is in many ways a portrait of where the economy was last winter, not a portrait of where the economy is now, and where the economy is now is probably a lot more favorable,” said Krugman, now at the City University of New York. “I have largely given up personally on using the CPI to judge what’s going on at all.”

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