Bullard Talks with The Economist about Inflation, U.S. Economy Growth

May 25, 2022

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St. Louis Fed President Jim Bullard discussed the Fed’s approach to raising rates to help manage inflation and what he anticipates for U.S. economic growth, during a podcast for The Economist.

Bullard repeated that 50-basis-point rises in the Fed’s policy rate are a good plan for now, depending on how economic conditions evolve. He also said a recession didn’t seem very likely based on the current data.

“I don’t really see a recession as the base case. Of course, we always face recession risk, and it is possible that we get a further shock and that we go into recession,” he said in an interview recorded May 20. “But right now, you’ve got the economy growing at two and a half to 3%. Even with everything that’s happened so far this year, most forecasts are two and a half to 3% for the U.S. economy for all of 2022.”