An interview with Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker published Sunday is doing the rounds. Lacker dissented when he was a voter last year, opposing additional asset purchases.
Q: Since you cast your dissenting votes in 2012, has there been anything in the subsequent data about the economy that has changed your mind at all about how you voted?
A: “No. In fact, the data in the first half of the year in my view is confirming my sense that the asset purchases were unlikely to have a noticeable effect on growth.”
Lacker says growth will come in around 2% “over the next couple of years, no matter what we do by way of asset purchases.” He blames a damaged consumer/business psychology because of the crisis and a labor skills mismatch.
