5.26.21
On May 26, Randal Quarles, the Federal Reserve’s Vice Chair for Supervision, expressed optimism about the country’s economic outlook. Quarles, in a speech at the Brookings Institution stated that the reopening of the economy and government stimulus programs have indicated consumers have an “accumulated stock of savings (that) will support spending for many months to come. Additionally, he believes a significant portion of the recent increase of inflation will be “transitory,” expecting the rate to begin subsiding at some point over the next several months and to return close to 2%. Quarles stressed that the central bank needs to be “patient in the face of temporary rises in prices and wages” and to not execute any action that might slow down the economy’s recovery in the wake of temporary inflation.