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Search Site Home > Newsroom > St. Louis Fed's Bullard Addresses Strength of U.S. Economic Recovery and State of Regulatory Reform 5/6/2010 ST. LOUIS — In remarks today to the Century Club at Washington University’s Olin Business School, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard discussed the strengthening U.S. economy and the need for regulatory reform that enhances the Fed’s regulatory authority and its ability to remain independent from politics. In his presentation, “Assessing the Strength of the U.S. Economic Recovery,” Bullard pointed to a growing number of economic indicators showing improvement. “There are continued signs of recovery. GDP growth has been positive for three consecutive quarters,” Bullard said. “Manufacturing has rebounded, and labor market conditions are slowly improving.” One risk to the outlook, according to Bullard, is the fallout from potential sovereign debt default as conditions continue to deteriorate in Greece and other countries. He pointed to the rising costs of sovereign debt protection in Greece, as well as in Portugal, Spain and Italy. Financial Regulatory Reform Turning to the current debate in Congress about U.S. nancial regulatory reform, Bullard called for the Federal Reserve to retain its supervisory role. “The Fed should continue to supervise state member banks and bank holding companies of all sizes. Understanding the entire nancial landscape helps the Fed make sound monetary policy decisions,” Bullard said. He also explained how the Federal Reserve’s regional structure was designed to keep some power out of New York and Washington and allow for input on key policy questions from around the U.S. “It is important that the Fed remain connected with Main Street America, and not become biased toward the very large, mostly New York-based institutions,” he said. Bullard added that current proposals for auditing monetary policy could diminish the independence of the Fed. He noted that the Fed is already extensively audited and said, “erosion of Fed independence could result in a 1970s-style period of volatility. The consequences for the U.S. and the global economy would be large. No one would be served well by this outcome.” GENERAL Home About Us Bank Supervision Careers Community Development Economic Education Events Inside the Economy Museum Newsroom On the Economy Blog Open Vault Blog OUR DISTRICT Little Rock Branch Louisville Branch Memphis Branch Agricultural Finance Monitor Housing Market Conditions SELECTED PUBLICATIONS Bridges Economic Synopses Housing Market Perspectives In the Balance Page One Economics The Quarterly Debt Monitor Review Regional Economist ST. LOUIS FED PRESIDENT James Bullard's Website INITIATIVES Center for Household Financial Stability Dialogue with the Fed Federal Banking Regulations FOMC Speak In Plain English - Making Sense of the Federal Reserve Timely Topics Podcasts and Videos DATA AND INFORMATION SERVICES CASSIDI® FRASER® FRED® FRED® Blog GeoFRED® IDEAS FOLLOW THE FED Twitter Facebook YouTube Google Plus Email Subscriptions RSS CONTACT US | LEGAL INFORMATION | PRIVACY NOTICE & POLICY | FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM ONLINE
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