In response to questions from members of the Senate Banking Committee at her confirmation hearing, Janet Yellen emphasized the need to maintain a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy in light of the disappointing economic recovery. Her comments were broadly in line with what Goldman would have expected, and by-and-large were very similar to statements made by Chairman Bernanke in the past; confirming moar of the same blindness to bubbles, lots of tools, and over-optimism.
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(image h/t @PatoNet [8])
MAIN POINTS:
1. Yellen emphasized the high level of unemployment as a reason for continuing the highly accommodative stance of monetary policy, noting in particular the high level of long-term unemployment. She stated that "I consider it imperative that we do what we can to promote a strong recovery" and later said that "it is important not to remove support, especially when the recovery is fragile and the tools available to monetary policy, should the economy falter, are limited" in light of the zero lower bound.
2. On asset purchases, Yellen stated that "I believe the benefits exceed the cost" and that purchases "have made a meaningful contribution to economic growth and improving the outlook." More generally, she noted that "as the program gradually winds down, we have indicated that we expect to maintain a highly accommodative monetary policy for some time to come."
3. There was very little to go on with respect to the outlook for near-term policy decisions, whether tapering asset purchases or adjusting the forward guidance. She did indicate that "at each meeting we are attempting to assess whether or not the outlook is meeting the criterion that we have set out to begin to reduce the pace of asset purchases."
4. Asked about lowering interest paid on excess reserves, she cited concern about money market functioning, but noted that "it's a possibility."
5. Regarding financing stability, Yellen reiterated her view that asset price bubbles or financial imbalances can best be dealt with (at least initially) through regulatory policy rather than adjusting the overall stance of monetary policy.