WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen Thursday said, there is currently no tradeoff in achieving both goals of the Fed's dual mandate, with unemployment too high and inflation below target.
"I don't have any doubt that our policies are contributing to the lower interest rates," , Yellen said responding to questions following a speech to the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, and at least partly because of this, "housing is really beginning to recover in a way that is convincing."
The Fed's accommodative policy is indeed promoting a stronger economic recovery, and that policy is "going to be good for virtually everyone in the economy," she said, adding, "the polices we are pursuing probably have been been good for stock market."
On how the Fed examines inflation, Yellen said she looks at a variety of measures, not simply the personal consumption expenditure price index.
"When the Fed thinks about inflation and underlying inflationary pressures in the economy, we don't just monitor one single index. We routinely look at CPI, PCE and a variety of other indices."
On the recent Bank of Japan announcement to implement their own program of asset purchases, Yellen said she prefers to comment on "the details of the plan," though she said she is not worried about any possible effects the BOJ's plan could have on the U.S. dollar.
She noted the Group of Seven countries agreed that countries were conducting monetary policy focused on each nation's domestic economy. Therefore, "I think it's something completely appropriate and is in Japan's own best interest."
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