The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that last month Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell expressed the need to begin decreasing borrowing costs. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that this shift was influenced by a variety of data pointing in the same direction. MIT economics professor Kristin Forbes said the consensus was not driven by a single factor but rather by different individuals focusing on various data, indicators and risks. She noted that a skilled Fed chair can unify diverse perspectives to achieve their desired outcome by leveraging different motivations. At least a couple of Fed policy-makers appear to still be on the fence, their support for policy easing contingent on further signs of a slowdown in inflation or weakness in the labour market. For the vast majority of Fed policy-makers, however, a first reduction in rates after a gruelling inflation fight is all but a certainty this month. Information, buttressed by their view of data already seen, will shape how big a move they favour at the meeting on Sept. 18 to Sept. 19. Fed policy-makers have not unfurled a "mission accomplished" banner to celebrate victory over what two years ago was the highest inflation rate in 40 years.