Fed’s Tarullo Says Economy Looking Stronger

WASHINGTON –  The U.S. economy, aided by the Federal Reserve’s easy monetary-policy stance, is beginning to look healthier, Federal Reserve Gov. Daniel Tarullo said Wednesday. "While we’ve not had certainly the pace and pervasiveness of the recovery that we wanted, the unconventional monetary policy have been critical in supporting the moderate recovery we have had, which I think now is looking reasonably well-rounded going forward, and I think that is reflected in the fairly wide expectation growth is going to be picking up over the course of this year," Tarullo said at a conference organized by the Levy Institute of Bard College. Tarullo sounded in no hurry to end the Fed’s easy policy stance. He said the Fed "should not rush to act preemptively" in anticipation of inflationary pressures. Tarullo’s comments were noteworthy because he rarely speaks about monetary policy — rather, most of his speeches deal with financial-stability issues given his role as the central bank’s point-man on strengthening regulation in the wake of the financial crisis.