By Scott Van Voorhis
EASTON, Mass. (MaceNews) – Shrugging off stock market turbulence and a deepening trade war, Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren is taking a bullish view of the health of the national economy.
While Fed officials are keeping a close eye on potential recession indicators, Rosengren said he is fairly comfortable with the current state of the U.S. economy, citing still strong consumer demand, low unemployment, and low inflation.
And despite the recent spate of turbulence in financial markets, stocks remain at relatively high levels, with a 50 percent increase since the start of 2016, Rosengren said Tuesday in remarks to faculty and students at Stonehill College outside of Boston.
“Most forecasts of the U.S economy come up with a growth rate of 2 percent – they are not seeing a recession,” Rosengren said. “I would argue this is the time – we really have to be data dependent. Does the consumer continue to spend? As long as we continue to see strong growth in employment and consumption, I am not overly worried.”
Rosengren also downplayed the significance of the inverted yield curve. One reason long-term US Treasury rates have fallen does not have much to do with the U.S. economy, but rather the worse than anemic rates offered by Germany on its equivalent, long-term debt, which is now offering a negative rate of return.