Lael Brainard is in her confirmation hearing for the position of Federal Reserve Vice Chair:
- We've seen distortions in demand due to the pandemic
- We don't tell banks which sector to lend to
- We thought we would see a more-rapid resolution of supply side challenges
- We still have 3.5-5m fewer jobs than pre-pandemic
- We see a large amount of missing workers in leisure and hospitality
- I still have strong confidence we will see labor force participation improve
- We want to be ready to move forward on digital currency if Congress decides to move forward
- We will bring inflation down as quickly as we can while being consistent with a strong recovery
- We were surprised by the incredible turmoil in the Treasury market in March 2020
The comment about participation is an interesting debate at the Fed. Bullard has been clear that he believes the fall in labor force participation is secular.
