By Brai Odion-Esene

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard
Fisher Wednesday spoke out against further monetary easing, arguing that
making more cheap money available would add to angst in the United
States about its massive debt load, and fuel fears of future soaring
inflation.

In the flowery prose that typifies his speeches, the outspoken
Fisher said until Congress and the administration “stop their posturing
and their bickering, job creators will sleep only fitfully until they
know how decisions about fiscal policy and regulation — if and when
they are made — will affect their operations and final demand for their
products.”

And while many expect the Fed to do more should anything threaten
the economic recovery, Fisher said “excessive monetary accommodation
might only add a further dosage of angst, fueling fears of future
inflation.”

The angst “is associated with run-away deficits and unfunded
liabilities that threaten to drown our economy in debt,” Fisher said,
and warned that neither businesses nor consumers can plan for the
long-term with confidence until their concerns are eased.

“No business operating in Texas or anywhere else in America, can
properly budget future costs or plan for payroll expansion and capital
investment until it knows what its federal taxes will be or how federal
spending and regulatory patterns will affect it, its suppliers or its
customers,” he said.

Regarding the nation’s high unemployment rate, Fisher declared that
“If we are to heal the plight of the American worker, our fiscal
authorities cannot count on the Federal Reserve to do the job only those
authorities can do; they must get their act together, set aside their
partisan and personal ambitions and act to right their listing fiscal
and regulatory ship.”

He noted that although businesses are beginning to hire once more
with the assistance of the massive amounts of liquidity pumped into the
economy by the Fed, “too many Americans remain out of work and for too
long.”

“Businesses will not use that abundant and cheap fuel to an optimal
degree until they have a clear understanding of how taxes and regulatory
and other cost factors will affect their operations going forward,” he
reiterated.

Repeating his call for the government and Capitol Hill to take
action, Fisher warned that without a credible long-term plan to bring
the federal debt and deficits under control, the nightmare remains that
lawmakers are simply kicking the can down the road to future
generations.

“This is a predicament the Fed is powerless to change.”

** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

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