Former Council of Economic Advisers chairman Kevin Hassett gives his take on whether the United States is in recession and criticizes the White House’s handling of the economy on “Kudlow.”
Despite admitting in May that she had been wrong about the path inflation would take, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday she expected the Federal Reserve’s policies to be “successful.”
“The Fed is charged with putting policies in place that will bring inflation down. And I hope they succeed,” Yellen told host Chuck Todd on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” after downplaying recession fears.
FILE: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testifies before the House Ways and Means Committee during a hearing on the fiscal year 2023 budget proposal on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 8, 2022 (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File/AP Newsroom)
The Biden administration, including Yellen, previously dismissed concerns about rising costs and said contributing factors were “transitory.”
“In the last few months we’ve seen some inflation and at least on a year-over-year basis, we’ll continue, I think for the rest of the year, to see higher inflation rates, maybe around 3 percent,” the secretary said of the Treasury Janet Yellen said about inflation in early June 2021. “But I personally think this represents transitory factors.”
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Since then, the US has experienced 13 straight months of high inflation. In June, inflation rose to 9.1%, marking the fastest pace of inflation in more than 40 years.
Yellen admitted earlier this year that her predictions about the path inflation would take had been wrong. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell has also made several mea culpas for his wrong inflation call.
On Friday, Powell reiterated the Fed’s determination to crush record inflation, saying it is imperative for the global financial system to stabilize consumer prices.
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“My colleagues and I are very focused on getting inflation back to our 2% target,” Powell said in opening remarks at a Fed conference on the role of the US dollar. “The Federal Reserve’s strong commitment to our price stability mandate contributes to widespread confidence in the dollar as a store of value.”
Fox Business Andrew Miller and Megan Henney contributed to this report.