Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis President James Bullard, a voter on policy this year who has backed record stimulus, said the US Federal Reserve may make a small cut to bond purchases next month after its narrow decision this week not to reduce accommodation.
“That was a borderline decision after weaker data came in,” Bullard said on Friday on Bloomberg Television’s Bloomberg Surveillance with Tom Keene and Sara Eisen. “The committee came down on the side of: ‘Let’s wait.’”
Bullard called next month a “live meeting,” because “it’s possible you could get some data that change the complexion of the outlook and could make the committee be comfortable with a small taper in October.”
The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday unexpectedly refrained from reducing its US$85 billion in monthly asset purchases, saying it needs to see more signs of sustained labor market gains.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday the central bank would decide on whether to taper purchases based on “what’s needed for the economy.”
The Fed will be able to weigh this month’s jobs report and revisions of prior months, as well as updated housing reports at its Oct. 29 to 30 meeting, Bullard said in a separate interview at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York.
“This was a very close call so maybe the information would come in in a way that would change the complexion” of the outlook, he said.
Markets should not have been surprised by the decision because Federal Open Market Committee members have repeatedly said the decision to slow, or taper, would be “data dependent,” Bullard said.
“I’m a little dismayed at those in markets that are saying they’re surprised by this,” Bullard said.
The Fed said that, “if the economy was going to improve in the second half of the year, and if we saw that improvement, we would taper,” he said.
Kansas City Fed President Esther George, who has consistently dissented against additional stimulus, said the central bank missed an opportunity to begin reducing bond purchases because markets were primed for such a move.
“Costly steps had been taken to begin to prepare markets for an adjustment in the pace of asset purchases,” George said on Friday in a New York speech. “This week’s decision by the Fed to taper expectations and not bond buying surprised many, disappointed some like me.”
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last