Thanks Brah. When Fisher of the Dallas Fed or Plosser of Philadelphia give a speech, you know it's going to be critical of current Fed policy. But when Williams of SF starts to talk about pulling back QE as early as this summer, you know some balloons are being floated.

Good to see they have a plan for a soft landing and we don't go from 'nominal support' to hyper inflation one morning while Chairman Ben is having his Wheaties. Just hope it works.

1 ...

Report Post

Posted by Doc Fenton

New York, NY

Member since Feb 2007

52698 posts

Posted on 5/18/13 at 6:48 am to Coeur du Tigre

quote:
When Fisher of the Dallas Fed or Plosser of Philadelphia give a speech, you know it's going to be critical of current Fed policy. But when Williams of SF starts to talk about pulling back QE as early as this summer, you know some balloons are being floated.

There have been several news stories this year talking about how there is growing opinion inside the Fed to begin tapering down the bond purchase program.

The news article has a nice chart and 2 videos associated with it, but I think the main idea is relatively old hat, and is encapsulated well with this snippet:

quote:
Yet while officials appear increasingly settled on a strategy for how to dial back the program, they haven't decided when to start.

Mr. Fisher said he advocated starting right away at the last Fed meeting. Some officials can envision taking a first step this summer, if strong data show the economy is weathering the tax increases and federal spending cuts that appear to be weighing on growth. But they might wait longer, especially if the economy disappoints, as it has for several years during the spring and summer months.

A Wall Street Journal survey of private economists this week showed that 55% expect the Fed to start shrinking its bond purchases in the third or fourth quarter this year, while 45% expect the Fed to wait until next year or later. None expected the Fed to increase its purchases as its next step.

The bond-buying programs are aimed at pushing down long-term interest rates and boosting financial markets to encourage more borrowing, spending and hiring in the broader economy. The Fed's securities holdings have increased from $2.58 trillion to $3.04 trillion since September.

Clearer signals about the Fed's plans could emerge next week. Five regional Fed bank presidents, including Mr. Fisher and Mr. Plosser, and Fed governor Sarah Bloom Raskin are scheduled to speak. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will discuss economic prospects for the long-run in a commencement address at Bard College at Simon's Rock next Saturday.

Although the Jon Hilsenrath video accompanying that May 11 article has not been posted to YouTube, a 4-minute round-table discussion involving Hilsenrath and Wessel is available from yesterday: LINK.