Investing

St. Louis Fed President Bullard Wants to Keep Genie of Inflation in the Bottle

In a presentation today, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard that further monetary actions by the Fed’s FOMC had been placed on “pause” as a result of the modest gains in the US economy and the already “ultra-easy” policy that is in place. Bullard sums up his position this way:

[T]he main risk lies in potentially overcommitting to the ultra-easy monetary policy, reigniting the global inflation debacle of the 1970s.

Bullard includes a chart in his presentation that shows personal consumption expenditures running slightly above an annual inflation rate of 2%, the Fed’s sort-of target.

Harking back to the bad, old days of the 1970s, Bullard notes that the era suffered 4 recessions in 13 years, double-digit inflation, and double-digit unemployment. Calling monetary policy a “blunt instrument,” Bullard argues that labor policy should replace monetary policy in grappling with unemployment.

That’s probably a wise suggestion, except that labor policy depends on getting legislation through the Congress, and if that had been easy, it would already have been done. Even though Fed monetary policy may be a club and not a scalpel, it may be all that’s left in the policy arsenal.

Bullard’s slide presentation is available here.

Paul Ausick

Travel Cards Are Getting Too Good To Ignore (sponsored)

Credit card companies are pulling out all the stops, with the issuers are offering insane travel rewards and perks.

We’re talking huge sign-up bonuses, points on every purchase, and benefits like lounge access, travel credits, and free hotel nights. For travelers, these rewards can add up to thousands of dollars in flights, upgrades, and luxury experiences every year.

It’s like getting paid to travel — and it’s available to qualified borrowers who know where to look.

We’ve rounded up some of the best travel credit cards on the market. Click here to see the list. Don’t miss these offers — they won’t be this good forever.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.

AI Portfolio

Discover Our Top AI Stocks

Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.

You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.