Bullard Discusses Monetary Policy, Low Inflation and Low Growth with Bloomberg

August 9, 2017

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St. Louis Fed President James Bullard discussed various aspects of the U.S. economy—including the low-growth regime and recent inflation readings, which have surprised on the downside—during an interview with Bloomberg. He also shared his views on the outlook for the Fed’s policy rate and on the Federal Open Market Committee’s plan for shrinking the Fed’s balance sheet.

During this segment shown on Bloomberg Markets, he said that if the U.S. economy continues growing at about 2 percent, inflation stays below 2 percent and market-based inflation expectations remain as low as they are currently, “I would not see the policy rate moving very much off of where we are today.”

During the full interview, which aired on Bloomberg Radio, he further discussed low inflation in the U.S. and globally as well as the Fed’s credibility with respect to the 2 percent inflation target. He also touched on movements in the dollar in recent years and on financial stability. In addition, he repeated his calls for a press conference after every FOMC meeting and for the Fed to do more reporting in terms of monetary policy rules (e.g., in a quarterly monetary policy report).