Comments from Federal Reserve's Vice Chair Stanley Fischer

In the Q&A following his earlier speech

  • US inflation would have hit 2% if not for oil, US Dollar
  • Weak US productivity is more an episode than secular
  • Lower oil prices are sustaining consumer spending

via Bloomberg

If prices hadn't gone down they woulda gone up. You dig?

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More (via Reuters)

  • Says volatility in markets as much to do with China as with any concern about effect of oil sector on US banks and financial system

And thus Fischer is struck of Zhou's Christmas card list

More:

  • US financial sector has been strengthened enormously
  • We are studying the experience of negative rates abroad
  • European experience with negative rates has been better than expected
  • Some negative rates in Europe stemmed capital inflows
  • Says Fed has no plans to use negative rates although it is under study