The regulator is cutting staff and easing oversight in ways that critics say might make supervisors less equipped to spot a crisis in advance, risking deeper damage to the economy.

Philip Jefferson offered a case study in the central bank’s predicament Monday, acknowledging the risk of stubborn inflation and weaker employment conditions—dueling threats that call for opposing prescriptions.

Right now, money has gotten tight. The Fed has been shrinking its balance sheet for ages, trying at least to make it look less titanic while also draining excess cash.

With the government shutdown temporarily resolved, market attention has shifted to whether the Fed will cut rates at its December meeting amid growing division within the FOMC.

The yen slid to its weakest level in more than nine months in early Asian trading on Tuesday as the dollar benefited from receding expectations that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates at its policy meeting next month.

The Federal Reserve is contending with two main obstacles — a dual mandate of keeping prices in check and sustaining job growth and a lack of economic data caused by the government shutdown. Those

Gold fell for a fourth straight session on Tuesday, weighed down by a firm dollar and diminished prospects of a U.S. interest rate cut next month.