Fed's Bill Poole Shows Unusual Optimism for an Inflation Hawk
"Recent inflation data themselves, and other information relevant to judging the inflation outlook, suggest that the inflation rate is likely to fall into a reasonable range this year."
Friday 8:45 AM ET : St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President William Poole to speak about the U.S. economy at the AAIM Management Association conference, in St. Louis, Missouri. Audience, media Q&A expected.
Fed's Bill Poole Shows Unusual Optimism for an Inflation Hawk
"Recent inflation data themselves, and other information relevant to judging the inflation outlook, suggest that the inflation rate is likely to fall into a reasonable range this year," Poole said.
"Clearly, the momentum seems to be headed in a favorable direction, as last week's (Federal Open Market Committee) press release noted," Poole said. But he cautioned that "before we declare victory and head home" it's worth keeping in mind that "we might be underestimating the likely pace of economic activity," or labor productivity may turn out to be lower than now forecast.
"If we get an upside surprise on (gross domestic product) growth, then monetary policy may have to be tightened somewhat," Poole warned. Also, if the level of core inflation "seems to be settling at a rate above 2%, then such an outcome would be unacceptable to me," he said, adding "I put a very high weight on the Fed's responsibility to maintain low and stable inflation." |
