Fed Chair Candidate Bullard Would Target ‘Group Think’ in Policy (Full)

Jim Bullard, dean of the Mitch Daniels School of Business at Purdue University and former Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis president, says the Fed will probably lower rates at the next meeting in September.

James Bullard, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, says he would seek to break down “group think” inside the central bank if he is chosen to succeed Jerome Powell as chair.

“The Fed is a research powerhouse,” Bullard says in interview with Bloomberg Television. “We could make more use of the various ideas that are proposed around the nation from the Fed. We could break up the group think more than what it has been in the last few years”

Asked about Fed independence, he said the central bank’s decision-making process — and its insulation from elected officials — is governed chiefly by the Federal Reserve Act, and changing that would require an act of Congress

“It is a complicated system. It’s done by committee and it is at arm’s length from day-to-day politics,” Bullard says. “I don’t think Congress is in a mood to change that”

Bullard adds, the president can “espouse his views” just like any other politician

NOTE: Bullard is among nearly a dozen candidates under consideration by the Trump administration as they search for the next Fed chair

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