Shocking I know. That hasn’t happened since Paul Volcker.
But it’s about time.
I just saw a piece in the New York Times titled “Fed Dissenters Increasingly Vocal About Inflation Fears”.
I was both happy and frightened to see that headline. Happy because the Fed needs to face up to the fact that interest rates can’t stay at zero forever, and frightened by what’s going to happen to the economy when (if) interest rates ever get back to anything resembling a market rate.
And then there’s inflation.
I’m an econ major. I’ve been following this stuff since 2006 and 2007. I’m confounded but the fact that we haven’t seen any inflation yet. It’s out there. But if or when it will ever hit is anyone’s guess.
The first paragraph of the piece is what gives me a glimmer of hope:
“An increasingly vocal minority of Federal Reserve officials want the central bank to retreat more quickly from its stimulus campaign, arguing that the bank has largely exhausted its ability to improve economic conditions.”
I’ve included the piece below without further comment. Let me know what you think.