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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Amid the recent financial market volatility, the interest rates on some long-dated government bonds have fallen below the level for short-term debt.

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FILE PHOTO: A trader looks at screens as he works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, August 13, 2019. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Called a “yield curve inversion,” this has been a traditional warning sign for the economy: If smart investors see more risk two years ahead than 10 years down the road, it can’t be good for near-term growth.

In response, President Donald Trump and others have upped demands for a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut.

So do U.S. central bankers care about what Trump called the “crazy inverted yield curve” or not?

Policymakers have been trying to get a handle on the issue for a while, with no consensus on whether a curve inversion today means the same thing it did in the past.

Here are selected comments of Fed policy makers over the last two years on the issue:

Dec. 1, 2017: “There is a material risk...if the (Federal Open Market Committee) continues on its present course” - St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard.

He was off by a few months, expecting a yield curve inversion late in 2018, but Bullard as well as Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan flagged early on what might happen if the Fed continued to hike, as it did throughout last year.

 Aug. 20, 2018: “I pledge to you I will not vote for anything that will knowingly invert the curve and I am hopeful that as we move forward I won’t be faced with that.” - Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic.

The comment captured the Fed’s dilemma at that point. The economy was growing

Read more from our friends at Reuters