St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard warned during a panel talk at Columbia University, “we’re at more risk now than we’ve been in a generation that this (inflation) could get out of control.”
One scenario would be, “a new surprise that hits us that we can’t anticipate right now, but we would have even more inflation,” he said. “That’s the kind of situation that we want to … make sure it doesn’t occur.”
“Overall, I’d say there’s been too much emphasis and too much mindshare devoted to the idea that inflation will dissipate at some point in the future,” Bullard said. “We’re at risk that inflation won’t dissipate, and 2022 will be the second year in a row of quite high inflation. So that’s why given this situation, the Fed should move faster and more aggressively than we would have in other circumstances.”
