Comments from St Louis Fed President Bullard:
- Prudent to edge Fed policy back to normal
- 5% jobless rate is close to unemployment
- Fed's goals have been met by some measures
- Wants to return to 1984-2007 macroeconmic setting
- Possible US entering a period of permanently lower inflation and rates
- Zero rates and low expectations may have anchored inflation at permanently low levels
- "Realistic possibility" that industrialized countries could face rates stuck near zero
- Still prefers to raise rates, worries about inflation
- Seven years at zero rates challenges fundamental assumptions about US monetary policy
Bullard is a terrible forecaster, so bad that he continues to take pot shots at himself.
"During the past six years I have warned along with many others that the committee's (zero interest rate policy) has put the U.S. economy at considerable risk of future inflation," Bullard said. "After seven years, one might want to consider other models."
