The Financial Times
"Fed governor plays down inflation risks as ‘transitory surge’ - Lael Brainard says central bank should be ‘patient’ in pursuing loose monetary policy"
James Politi in Washington and Colby Smith in New York
MAY 11 2021
A senior Federal Reserve official has called on the US central bank to be “patient” in pursuing its ultra-loose monetary policy, dismissing inflation worries and highlighting “uneven” improvements in the labour market.
The comments by Lael Brainard, a Fed governor, suggest the US central bank is not ready to begin contemplating removing its support for the pandemic-hit US economy, even as growth picks up and consumer prices begin to rise.
They also indicate that senior Fed officials viewed last week’s weak jobs report for April as reinforcing their concerns that the acceleration in the US recovery this year remains uneven and fraught with uncertainty.
“The outlook is bright, but risks remain, and we are far from our goals."
"The latest employment report reminds us that realised outcomes can diverge from forward projections and underscores the value of patience,” Brainard said.
“Remaining patient through the transitory surge [in inflation] associated with reopening will help ensure that the underlying economic momentum that will be needed to reach our goals . . . is not curtailed by a premature tightening of financial conditions.”
The monetary policymaker’s comments come against the backdrop of higher energy prices and mounting evidence of supply-chain bottlenecks as economies globally begin to emerge from coronavirus-related lockdowns.
Investors have grown increasingly worried that the rise in consumer prices this year may be more pronounced than is at present expected, leading to more sustained inflation that may prompt the Fed to tighten monetary policy sooner than indicated by officials in their projections.
Brainard sought to quell those fears on Tuesday, highlighting that production-related issues would smooth out over time and that “supply-demand imbalances” in the in-person services sector would also be resolved within “a few quarters” as the vaccination campaign progressed and the economic reopening continued apace.
“To the extent that supply-chain congestion and other reopening frictions are transitory, they are unlikely to generate persistently higher inflation on their own,” she said.
“A persistent material increase in inflation would require not just that wages or prices increase for a period after reopening, but also a broad expectation that they will continue to increase at a persistently higher pace.”
The April jobs report, which showed the US economy adding 266,000 positions last month, sharply lower than its pace of 770,000 jobs in March, was far weaker than projected by most economists.
“[The data] reminds us that while there are good reasons to expect the number of jobs and the number of people wanting to work will make a full recovery, it is unlikely they will recover at the same pace,” she said.
While some economists, business groups and Republican lawmakers pointed to enduring federal unemployment benefits as a key reason why the demand for labour appeared to be outpacing the supply of labour from workers, Brainard pointed to “virus-related impediments” as the main reason why businesses were facing challenges hiring people.
She said these included health and safety concerns, gaps in childcare and public transport weaknesses.
“There is good reason to expect a strong rebound in employment over coming quarters, although the different forces affecting demand and supply may lead to uneven rates of progress,” said Brainard, a former Obama administration official and a Democrat.
“But today, by any measure, employment remains far from our goals.”
https://www.ft.com/content/98c211f4-f09 ... 3422b6a539
LAEL BRAINARD
Re: LAEL BRAINARD
MARKETWATCH
"Fed’s Brainard says spike in inflation this year is ‘transitory’"
By Greg Robb
Published: Sept. 27, 2021 at 2:37 p.m. ET
Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard on Monday laid out a strong case for the central bank to maintain low interest rates, saying that the spike seen in inflation this year was transitory and the labor market was far from healed.
Brainard pushed back on some of her hawkish colleagues at the central bank, who are pressing the Fed to end its support for the economy in the form of bond purchases by the middle of next year in case the central bank needs to raise its short-term interest rates to cool off inflation.
In a speech to the National Association for Business Economics, Brainard said the spike in inflation seen this year was narrow and caused categories damaged by COVID disruptions.
“High inflation readings from the spring and early summer were disproportionately driven by a few sectors experiencing specific supply bottlenecks,” Brainard said.
“As those COVID related disruptions subside, most forecasters expect inflation to move back down towards our 2% long-run objective on its own."
"That’s the sense in which currently high inflation is likely to be transitory,” Brainard said.
“I expect inflation to decelerate, and pre-COVID inflation dynamics to return when COVID disruptions dissipate,” Brainard said.
She said it is uncertain how fast inflation will slow down over the remainder of this year and next year.
Brainard said she didn’t see wage gains were pushing inflations higher.
At the same time, Brainard pushed back against economists who are arguing that the labor market is already “tight” and the unemployment rate won’t return to the low 3.5% rate see before the pandemic.
In her remarks, Brainard said she knew of “no reason employment should not return to levels as strong or stronger than we saw before the pandemic.”
She said she was “confounded” by arguments that the labor market is tight.
The unemployment rate was 5.2% in August, still well above the 3.5% low seen in early 2020.
Brainard said the economy is still 5 million jobs short of the level of employment in early 2020 before the pandemic struck the U.S. economy.
She said the unemployment rate adjusted for COVID-related nonparticipation remained elevated at 7.5 percent.
The Fed has vowed to hold its benchmark interest rate close to zero until the labor market returns to its “maximum sustainable” levels.
There is a record number of job openings now even though the unemployment rate is still relatively high.
Participation in the workforce, a key measure of strength of the labor market, has remained low, even as the effects of the economy from the pandemic has eased.
This has created a conundrum for economists.
Some argue that workers are retiring and so participation in the economy will remain permanently lower.
This means that the Fed shouldn’t hold short-term interest rates close to zero in hopes of returning to the 3.5% jobless rate, as that is no longer possible.
Brainard argued that the low participation appears to reflect COVID related constraints that have been prolonged by the delta variant rather than a permanent structural change in the economy.
A recent survey found that the number of workers who said they had left the job market because they were either sick with COVID or taking care of somebody who was sick with COVID, that more than double just between late July and early September.
Brainard’s remarks fit with her stance of one of the most dovish Fed officials.
Some observers think President Joe Biden might tap Brainard to replace Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, whose 4-year term ends in early 2022.
Brainard is the only remaining Fed governor not appointed by President Donald Trump.
Several other dovish Fed officials spoke Monday.
New York Fed President John Williams said he expected inflation to fall back down to 2%.
And Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said he’s more worried about too little inflation than too much.
All three Fed officials didn’t raise any concern with the Fed’s plan to begin to slow down, or taper, its $120 billion per month in bond purchases.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell strongly hinted that the tapering would be announced at the next Fed meeting in early November.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note flirted with the 1.5% rate earlier Monday before settling back in afternoon trading.
The yield has moved higher from a 1.3% rate seen before last week’s Fed meeting as analysts say the central bank’s decisions on tapering was a move in a hawkish direction.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds- ... m%20healed.
"Fed’s Brainard says spike in inflation this year is ‘transitory’"
By Greg Robb
Published: Sept. 27, 2021 at 2:37 p.m. ET
Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard on Monday laid out a strong case for the central bank to maintain low interest rates, saying that the spike seen in inflation this year was transitory and the labor market was far from healed.
Brainard pushed back on some of her hawkish colleagues at the central bank, who are pressing the Fed to end its support for the economy in the form of bond purchases by the middle of next year in case the central bank needs to raise its short-term interest rates to cool off inflation.
In a speech to the National Association for Business Economics, Brainard said the spike in inflation seen this year was narrow and caused categories damaged by COVID disruptions.
“High inflation readings from the spring and early summer were disproportionately driven by a few sectors experiencing specific supply bottlenecks,” Brainard said.
“As those COVID related disruptions subside, most forecasters expect inflation to move back down towards our 2% long-run objective on its own."
"That’s the sense in which currently high inflation is likely to be transitory,” Brainard said.
“I expect inflation to decelerate, and pre-COVID inflation dynamics to return when COVID disruptions dissipate,” Brainard said.
She said it is uncertain how fast inflation will slow down over the remainder of this year and next year.
Brainard said she didn’t see wage gains were pushing inflations higher.
At the same time, Brainard pushed back against economists who are arguing that the labor market is already “tight” and the unemployment rate won’t return to the low 3.5% rate see before the pandemic.
In her remarks, Brainard said she knew of “no reason employment should not return to levels as strong or stronger than we saw before the pandemic.”
She said she was “confounded” by arguments that the labor market is tight.
The unemployment rate was 5.2% in August, still well above the 3.5% low seen in early 2020.
Brainard said the economy is still 5 million jobs short of the level of employment in early 2020 before the pandemic struck the U.S. economy.
She said the unemployment rate adjusted for COVID-related nonparticipation remained elevated at 7.5 percent.
The Fed has vowed to hold its benchmark interest rate close to zero until the labor market returns to its “maximum sustainable” levels.
There is a record number of job openings now even though the unemployment rate is still relatively high.
Participation in the workforce, a key measure of strength of the labor market, has remained low, even as the effects of the economy from the pandemic has eased.
This has created a conundrum for economists.
Some argue that workers are retiring and so participation in the economy will remain permanently lower.
This means that the Fed shouldn’t hold short-term interest rates close to zero in hopes of returning to the 3.5% jobless rate, as that is no longer possible.
Brainard argued that the low participation appears to reflect COVID related constraints that have been prolonged by the delta variant rather than a permanent structural change in the economy.
A recent survey found that the number of workers who said they had left the job market because they were either sick with COVID or taking care of somebody who was sick with COVID, that more than double just between late July and early September.
Brainard’s remarks fit with her stance of one of the most dovish Fed officials.
Some observers think President Joe Biden might tap Brainard to replace Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, whose 4-year term ends in early 2022.
Brainard is the only remaining Fed governor not appointed by President Donald Trump.
Several other dovish Fed officials spoke Monday.
New York Fed President John Williams said he expected inflation to fall back down to 2%.
And Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said he’s more worried about too little inflation than too much.
All three Fed officials didn’t raise any concern with the Fed’s plan to begin to slow down, or taper, its $120 billion per month in bond purchases.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell strongly hinted that the tapering would be announced at the next Fed meeting in early November.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note flirted with the 1.5% rate earlier Monday before settling back in afternoon trading.
The yield has moved higher from a 1.3% rate seen before last week’s Fed meeting as analysts say the central bank’s decisions on tapering was a move in a hawkish direction.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds- ... m%20healed.
Re: LAEL BRAINARD
CNBC
"Lael Brainard slams food companies for ‘shrinkflation’ as White House attacks price gouging"
Rebecca Picciotto @BECCPICC
PUBLISHED TUE, FEB 13 2024
KEY POINTS
* Lael Brainard blamed higher consumer prices on “shrinkflation,” amplifying President Biden’s latest line of attack against corporate price gouging.
* Despite the White House touting a recovering economy, consumers have yet to feel the relief and have blamed Biden for it, which has weighed on the president’s 2024 reelection bid.
* Consumer brands like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and more have raised prices over the past year to help keep profits afloat.
National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard on Tuesday blamed higher consumer prices on “shrinkflation,” doubling down on the latest battlefront of President Joe Biden’s corporate pressure campaign.
“If you look at some of the staples, like eggs or milk, they have come down."
"But consumer brands, instead of actually lowering prices, they’ve shrunk packaging,” Brainard said on CNBC’s “Money Movers.”
“That’s the shrinkflation that the president is really calling attention to.”
Brainard’s comments came hours after the consumer price index showed inflation trending above expectations, coming in 0.3% higher in January.
In particular, food prices slid up 0.4% during the month.
Consumer brands like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and more have raised prices over the past year to keep profits afloat.
Shrinkflation, the practice of reducing product sizes while keeping prices the same, is Biden’s latest line of attack against corporations, which he debuted on Super Bowl Sunday.
Both the White House and Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign have touted inflation recovery as a key accomplishment of his economic agenda, dubbed Bidenomics.
But consumers have yet to feel the relief on their wallets and they blame Biden for it, according to recent polls.
Instead, Biden has pointed the finger at corporate price-gouging tactics, which he says are the real driver of sticky high prices.
“The president is going to continue emphasizing that input costs have come down, supply chains have healed,” Brainard said.
“He’s going to keep calling on corporations to pass those savings on to the American consumer.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/13/feds-la ... attle.html
"Lael Brainard slams food companies for ‘shrinkflation’ as White House attacks price gouging"
Rebecca Picciotto @BECCPICC
PUBLISHED TUE, FEB 13 2024
KEY POINTS
* Lael Brainard blamed higher consumer prices on “shrinkflation,” amplifying President Biden’s latest line of attack against corporate price gouging.
* Despite the White House touting a recovering economy, consumers have yet to feel the relief and have blamed Biden for it, which has weighed on the president’s 2024 reelection bid.
* Consumer brands like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and more have raised prices over the past year to help keep profits afloat.
National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard on Tuesday blamed higher consumer prices on “shrinkflation,” doubling down on the latest battlefront of President Joe Biden’s corporate pressure campaign.
“If you look at some of the staples, like eggs or milk, they have come down."
"But consumer brands, instead of actually lowering prices, they’ve shrunk packaging,” Brainard said on CNBC’s “Money Movers.”
“That’s the shrinkflation that the president is really calling attention to.”
Brainard’s comments came hours after the consumer price index showed inflation trending above expectations, coming in 0.3% higher in January.
In particular, food prices slid up 0.4% during the month.
Consumer brands like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and more have raised prices over the past year to keep profits afloat.
Shrinkflation, the practice of reducing product sizes while keeping prices the same, is Biden’s latest line of attack against corporations, which he debuted on Super Bowl Sunday.
Both the White House and Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign have touted inflation recovery as a key accomplishment of his economic agenda, dubbed Bidenomics.
But consumers have yet to feel the relief on their wallets and they blame Biden for it, according to recent polls.
Instead, Biden has pointed the finger at corporate price-gouging tactics, which he says are the real driver of sticky high prices.
“The president is going to continue emphasizing that input costs have come down, supply chains have healed,” Brainard said.
“He’s going to keep calling on corporations to pass those savings on to the American consumer.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/13/feds-la ... attle.html
Re: LAEL BRAINARD
REUTERS
"White House's Brainard says US won't follow Japan, UK into recession"
By David Lawder and Andrea Shalal
February 15, 2024
WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. will not follow Britain and Japan into recession because of a fundamentally stronger recovery that has enabled healthy consumer spending, with Biden administration spending on infrastructure and clean energy fostering business investment, White House economic adviser Lael Brainard said on Thursday.
Brainard told reporters at an economics conference that continued U.S. growth would help to support the global economy, including for developing countries.
"Because inflation has come down so quickly, we anticipate the environment to be quite benign" for the U.S., said Brainard, the director of the White House's National Economic Council.
New data on Tuesday showed that both Britain and Japan unexpectedly slipped into recession, with GDP falling in the fourth quarter after third-quarter drops.
Consumer spending in both countries remained weak.
Brainard attributed the stronger U.S. position to the passage of the Biden administration's initial COVID-19 rescue package, which enabled Americans to get back to work sooner and helped small businesses.
Record business creation, with 16 million applications in the past three years, and Biden administration investments in infrastructure, semiconductors, and clean energy "are going to continue to provide strong positive investment environment for the business investment," she said.
Along with stronger workforce participation and productivity improvements, these factors could help pave the way for durable longer-term growth, Brainard said.
Brainard, a former vice chair of the Federal Reserve, continued the Biden administration's efforts to promote its investment policies, arguing that they have enabled the U.S. economy to defy last year's forecasts of a recession.
But the administration's repeated efforts to showcase its economic successes have so far failed to persuade an American public still stung by high post-pandemic inflation, raising concerns for Democrats as President Joe Biden seeks a second White House term in the Nov. 5 election.
PRICES STILL TOO HIGH
Brainard acknowledged that Americans are "fed up" with high prices for everyday purchases such as many food products and housing, and said the Biden administration would seek to push them down by cracking down on deceptive pricing practices such as shrinking package sizes and "junk fees" charged by some services providers.
Brainard declined to comment directly on the release on Thursday of U.S. retail sales data that showed a larger-than-expected drop in January.
She said, however, that consumers are becoming more discerning about their purchases, and that can prompt some retailers to cut prices.
The U.S. economy is healthier than forecast a year ago, stronger than the same stage of previous recoveries, and better on growth and inflation than other advanced economies, with headline and core inflation near 2% for the past six months, Brainard said.
Inflation has declined even as growth was around 3% in 2023 and unemployment remained below 4% for two years, the longest stretch since the 1960s.
"Looking to history, we have never had a year where inflation has declined this fast, alongside robust growth and a stable, low unemployment rate," Brainard said.
Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Susan Fenton and Paul Simao
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white- ... 024-02-15/
"White House's Brainard says US won't follow Japan, UK into recession"
By David Lawder and Andrea Shalal
February 15, 2024
WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. will not follow Britain and Japan into recession because of a fundamentally stronger recovery that has enabled healthy consumer spending, with Biden administration spending on infrastructure and clean energy fostering business investment, White House economic adviser Lael Brainard said on Thursday.
Brainard told reporters at an economics conference that continued U.S. growth would help to support the global economy, including for developing countries.
"Because inflation has come down so quickly, we anticipate the environment to be quite benign" for the U.S., said Brainard, the director of the White House's National Economic Council.
New data on Tuesday showed that both Britain and Japan unexpectedly slipped into recession, with GDP falling in the fourth quarter after third-quarter drops.
Consumer spending in both countries remained weak.
Brainard attributed the stronger U.S. position to the passage of the Biden administration's initial COVID-19 rescue package, which enabled Americans to get back to work sooner and helped small businesses.
Record business creation, with 16 million applications in the past three years, and Biden administration investments in infrastructure, semiconductors, and clean energy "are going to continue to provide strong positive investment environment for the business investment," she said.
Along with stronger workforce participation and productivity improvements, these factors could help pave the way for durable longer-term growth, Brainard said.
Brainard, a former vice chair of the Federal Reserve, continued the Biden administration's efforts to promote its investment policies, arguing that they have enabled the U.S. economy to defy last year's forecasts of a recession.
But the administration's repeated efforts to showcase its economic successes have so far failed to persuade an American public still stung by high post-pandemic inflation, raising concerns for Democrats as President Joe Biden seeks a second White House term in the Nov. 5 election.
PRICES STILL TOO HIGH
Brainard acknowledged that Americans are "fed up" with high prices for everyday purchases such as many food products and housing, and said the Biden administration would seek to push them down by cracking down on deceptive pricing practices such as shrinking package sizes and "junk fees" charged by some services providers.
Brainard declined to comment directly on the release on Thursday of U.S. retail sales data that showed a larger-than-expected drop in January.
She said, however, that consumers are becoming more discerning about their purchases, and that can prompt some retailers to cut prices.
The U.S. economy is healthier than forecast a year ago, stronger than the same stage of previous recoveries, and better on growth and inflation than other advanced economies, with headline and core inflation near 2% for the past six months, Brainard said.
Inflation has declined even as growth was around 3% in 2023 and unemployment remained below 4% for two years, the longest stretch since the 1960s.
"Looking to history, we have never had a year where inflation has declined this fast, alongside robust growth and a stable, low unemployment rate," Brainard said.
Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Susan Fenton and Paul Simao
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white- ... 024-02-15/
Re: LAEL BRAINARD
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR FEBRUARY 19, 2024 AT 11:08 PM
Paul Plante says:
And talk about a “whole of government” approach to getting Joe Biden re-elected, notwithstanding that the Hatch Act, which Joe totally ignores, as if it, like every other law, does not apply to him, prohibits public officials from using their official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the results of an election or nomination, Joe has a “full court press” going, and here I am now talking about Lael Brainard, who Joe announced on February 14, 2023 as a key member of his economic team, with her serving as Director of Joe’s National Economic Council, with Joe telling us at that time that Lael was one of the country’s leading macroeconomists who was bringing Joe, who himself knows absolutely nothing about the subject, an extraordinary depth of domestic and international economic expertise, with her having previously served at CEA, NEC, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve, so that she is a trusted veteran across our economic institutions, which means she is politically reliable and can be trusted to say what needs to be said when it needs to be said, like now to get Joe re-elected, and according to Joe, who himself is totally clueless as to how everyday Americans live, unlike him, supposedly, Lael understands how the economy affects everyday people, which is horse****, plain and simple, because Lael is as clueless as is Joe Biden about how the economy affects everyday people, because like Joe, Lael Brainard, a Washington insider who began her political career in 1997, serving as deputy national economic advisor and deputy assistant to the president during the Clinton administration, where she helped build a new White House organization to address global economic challenges such as the Asian financial crisis and China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, doesn't have a clue as to how everyday people in America outside the Washington Beltway live.
Thereafter, having proved her political reliability, on March 23, 2009, Lael was nominated by Hussein Obama to serve as Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs and after that, Hussein nominated her to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in January 2014, being confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 61–31 on June 12, 2014, and beginning her term on June 16, 2014.
Then, on November 22, 2021, Joe Biden nominated Brainard to be the vice-chair of the Federal Reserve, with her initial nomination being returned to Joe on January 3, 2022, due to it expiring at the end of the year.
Undaunted, Joe simply renominated her the following day, so that on April 26, 2022, her nomination was confirmed by the Senate by a 52–43 vote, with all Democrats present and seven Republicans voting in favor of her confirmation.
And then, as was stated above, Lael was selected by Joe as Director of the National Economic Council, which was established in 1993 to advise the President on U.S. and global economic policy, it being part of the Executive Office of the President, and by Executive Order, the NEC has four key functions, those being to coordinate policy-making for domestic and international economic issues; to give economic policy advice to the President; to ensure that policy decisions and programs are consistent with the President’s economic goals; and to monitor implementation of the President’s economic policy agenda.
As to Lael’s lack of credibility, she was quoted in a Financial Times article titled “Fed governor plays down inflation risks as ‘transitory surge’ – Lael Brainard says central bank should be ‘patient’ in pursuing loose monetary policy” by James Politi in Washington and Colby Smith in New York on May 11, 2021, as follows:
A senior Federal Reserve official has called on the US central bank to be “patient” in pursuing its ultra-loose monetary policy, dismissing inflation worries and highlighting “uneven” improvements in the labour market.
end quotes
In the above article where I pondered whether it is truly necessary to be a loser and a fool to work in high levels of government in Washington, D.C., I was actually thinking of Lael Brainard at the time, based on those wrong-footed comments from her above, on inflation being transitory, who is now out there touting BIDE-O-NOMICS for Joe, as if we would believe a word she says after her telling us on May 11, 2021, six months before Joe nominated her to be the vice-chair of the Federal Reserve on November 22, 2021, that inflation was transitory when it was anything but.
And thereafter, in a July 19, 2021 speech, old Joe marked the first six months of his administration by celebrating the nation’s economy, which he hailed as experiencing “the fastest growth, I’m told, at this point in any administration’s history.”
Getting himself all puffed up with how great he and his administration are, Joe then got on a roll as follows:
“We also know that as our economy has come roaring back, we’ve seen some price increases,” Biden said.
“Some folks have raised worries that this could be a sign of persistent inflation.”
“But that is not our view.”
In a reference to Lael at that time, who is now out there on the campaign trail for Joe as his Director of the National Economic Council touting BIDE-O-NOMICS, Joe continued by saying, “Our experts believe, and the data shows, that most of the price increases we’ve seen are expected to be temporary.”
And two months later, in a Marketwatch article titled “Fed’s Brainard says spike in inflation this year is ‘transitory’” by Greg Robb on September 27, 2021, Lael was back reinforcing Joe Biden’s political message on inflation of July 19, 2021, as follows:
Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard on Monday laid out a strong case for the central bank to maintain low interest rates, saying that the spike seen in inflation this year was transitory and the labor market was far from healed.
“High inflation readings from the spring and early summer were disproportionately driven by a few sectors experiencing specific supply bottlenecks,” Brainard said.
“As those COVID related disruptions subside, most forecasters expect inflation to move back down towards our 2% long-run objective on its own.”
“That’s the sense in which currently high inflation is likely to be transitory,” Brainard said.
“I expect inflation to decelerate, and pre-COVID inflation dynamics to return when COVID disruptions dissipate,” Brainard said.
She said it is uncertain how fast inflation will slow down over the remainder of this year and next year.
end quotes
And how wrong she was!
Which got her promoted!
Welcome to the whacky world of American DICTATOR Joseph Robinette Biden, Junior, and boy, is it ever a doozy!
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/paul-p ... ent-901219
Paul Plante says:
And talk about a “whole of government” approach to getting Joe Biden re-elected, notwithstanding that the Hatch Act, which Joe totally ignores, as if it, like every other law, does not apply to him, prohibits public officials from using their official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the results of an election or nomination, Joe has a “full court press” going, and here I am now talking about Lael Brainard, who Joe announced on February 14, 2023 as a key member of his economic team, with her serving as Director of Joe’s National Economic Council, with Joe telling us at that time that Lael was one of the country’s leading macroeconomists who was bringing Joe, who himself knows absolutely nothing about the subject, an extraordinary depth of domestic and international economic expertise, with her having previously served at CEA, NEC, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve, so that she is a trusted veteran across our economic institutions, which means she is politically reliable and can be trusted to say what needs to be said when it needs to be said, like now to get Joe re-elected, and according to Joe, who himself is totally clueless as to how everyday Americans live, unlike him, supposedly, Lael understands how the economy affects everyday people, which is horse****, plain and simple, because Lael is as clueless as is Joe Biden about how the economy affects everyday people, because like Joe, Lael Brainard, a Washington insider who began her political career in 1997, serving as deputy national economic advisor and deputy assistant to the president during the Clinton administration, where she helped build a new White House organization to address global economic challenges such as the Asian financial crisis and China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, doesn't have a clue as to how everyday people in America outside the Washington Beltway live.
Thereafter, having proved her political reliability, on March 23, 2009, Lael was nominated by Hussein Obama to serve as Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs and after that, Hussein nominated her to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in January 2014, being confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 61–31 on June 12, 2014, and beginning her term on June 16, 2014.
Then, on November 22, 2021, Joe Biden nominated Brainard to be the vice-chair of the Federal Reserve, with her initial nomination being returned to Joe on January 3, 2022, due to it expiring at the end of the year.
Undaunted, Joe simply renominated her the following day, so that on April 26, 2022, her nomination was confirmed by the Senate by a 52–43 vote, with all Democrats present and seven Republicans voting in favor of her confirmation.
And then, as was stated above, Lael was selected by Joe as Director of the National Economic Council, which was established in 1993 to advise the President on U.S. and global economic policy, it being part of the Executive Office of the President, and by Executive Order, the NEC has four key functions, those being to coordinate policy-making for domestic and international economic issues; to give economic policy advice to the President; to ensure that policy decisions and programs are consistent with the President’s economic goals; and to monitor implementation of the President’s economic policy agenda.
As to Lael’s lack of credibility, she was quoted in a Financial Times article titled “Fed governor plays down inflation risks as ‘transitory surge’ – Lael Brainard says central bank should be ‘patient’ in pursuing loose monetary policy” by James Politi in Washington and Colby Smith in New York on May 11, 2021, as follows:
A senior Federal Reserve official has called on the US central bank to be “patient” in pursuing its ultra-loose monetary policy, dismissing inflation worries and highlighting “uneven” improvements in the labour market.
end quotes
In the above article where I pondered whether it is truly necessary to be a loser and a fool to work in high levels of government in Washington, D.C., I was actually thinking of Lael Brainard at the time, based on those wrong-footed comments from her above, on inflation being transitory, who is now out there touting BIDE-O-NOMICS for Joe, as if we would believe a word she says after her telling us on May 11, 2021, six months before Joe nominated her to be the vice-chair of the Federal Reserve on November 22, 2021, that inflation was transitory when it was anything but.
And thereafter, in a July 19, 2021 speech, old Joe marked the first six months of his administration by celebrating the nation’s economy, which he hailed as experiencing “the fastest growth, I’m told, at this point in any administration’s history.”
Getting himself all puffed up with how great he and his administration are, Joe then got on a roll as follows:
“We also know that as our economy has come roaring back, we’ve seen some price increases,” Biden said.
“Some folks have raised worries that this could be a sign of persistent inflation.”
“But that is not our view.”
In a reference to Lael at that time, who is now out there on the campaign trail for Joe as his Director of the National Economic Council touting BIDE-O-NOMICS, Joe continued by saying, “Our experts believe, and the data shows, that most of the price increases we’ve seen are expected to be temporary.”
And two months later, in a Marketwatch article titled “Fed’s Brainard says spike in inflation this year is ‘transitory’” by Greg Robb on September 27, 2021, Lael was back reinforcing Joe Biden’s political message on inflation of July 19, 2021, as follows:
Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard on Monday laid out a strong case for the central bank to maintain low interest rates, saying that the spike seen in inflation this year was transitory and the labor market was far from healed.
“High inflation readings from the spring and early summer were disproportionately driven by a few sectors experiencing specific supply bottlenecks,” Brainard said.
“As those COVID related disruptions subside, most forecasters expect inflation to move back down towards our 2% long-run objective on its own.”
“That’s the sense in which currently high inflation is likely to be transitory,” Brainard said.
“I expect inflation to decelerate, and pre-COVID inflation dynamics to return when COVID disruptions dissipate,” Brainard said.
She said it is uncertain how fast inflation will slow down over the remainder of this year and next year.
end quotes
And how wrong she was!
Which got her promoted!
Welcome to the whacky world of American DICTATOR Joseph Robinette Biden, Junior, and boy, is it ever a doozy!
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/paul-p ... ent-901219