Calling the economy “anemic” and saying this condition will last “a couple of quarters, if not a little bit longer,” Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas president Richard Fisher yesterday said it’s too early to compare the economy to the time of the latest Fed meeting.
“I think it’s too soon to form a judgment as to whether the economy is indeed weaker than I expected or inflation pressures are worse than I expected,” Fisher said, according to text of an interview he gave yesterday on Nightly Business Report on PBS. He reiterated his concern about inflation, because “I believe there are longer-term tectonic, structural forces at play. If they were temporary I’d be less concerned about them. I’m more concerned because I think they have to do with demand-pull as … coming from the world at large as it grows and the ability of supply to respond.”
Fisher said he doubts the country will fall into recession and expects a rebound in the last half of the year. When asked about reversing the monetary policy easing should the economy rebound later this year, he said: “I think it’s premature to talk about picking up rates. Right now we’re just trying to get it right.”
