Nothing dramatic here, but we'll always post the quote when a Federal Reserve President tells the truth.
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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker on Monday said he was "chastened" by his incorrect GDP forecast for 2011 of above 3%, when it's likely to come in around 1.75%. He blamed the miss on the acceleration in commodity prices and the Japan earthquake as well as the lingering aftermath of the past recession, including "the still-overbuilt housing market." Lacker, who becomes a voting member in 2012 of the Federal Open Market Committee, said another lesson learned is that inflation can accelerate despite elevated levels of unemployment. Lacker, who forecasts 2012 U.S. growth of between 2% and 2.5%, added that monetary policy is often credited "with entirely too much influence on real growth" and that its main impact is on inflation.