Bullard Discusses the Economy and Inflation in Central Banking Journal Interview

October 18, 2021

St. Louis Fed President Jim Bullard discussed various aspects of the U.S. economy and monetary policy during an Oct. 8 interview with Central Banking Journal that was published Oct. 18.

Bullard talked about the Federal Open Market Committee’s move to flexible average inflation targeting in August 2020. He noted that the new monetary policy framework is being tested in its first year of implementation because of the inflation shock in 2021. In addition, he shared his views on tapering the Fed’s asset purchases and having a risk management approach to monetary policy in case inflation is higher than expected next year and is more persistent.

He also spoke about the strong labor market in the U.S., the general trend toward a wider set of data to get more continuous measures of the economy, the fiscal policy response during the pandemic, his projections for the U.S. economy, nonbank financial regulation and a digital dollar.

The video and a lightly edited version of the transcript can be found on the Central Banking Journal’s website.