Wednesday, 02 Mar 2011 09:44 AM
Persistent U.S. fiscal deficits would hurt the economy and
pressure the Federal Reserve to loosen monetary policy, Kansas
City Fed President Thomas Hoenig warned Wednesday.
"When you have debts and deficits that run very rapidly over
time, real interest rates do rise ... and when they do, it has
the effect of slowing down investments, slowing down the
economy," Hoenig told the Council of Foreign Relations.
"And what happens? Inevitably you turn to the central bank," he
added, calling on the government to address its fiscal issues
now, without ignoring entitlement issues.
Hoenig also said U.S. policymakers should start preparing the
market for a lifting of interest rates back to 1 percent to
avoid future inflation problems.
"I really want to take away the punch bowl before the room gets
drunk because I think this punch bowl is a little bit spiked,"
Hoenig, who has repeatedly voiced dissent against the Fed's
ultra-low monetary policy, said.

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