Asked, in an interview with CNN, whether she had been wrong to downplay the threat posed by inflation in public data over the past year, Yellen said: “I think I was wrong at the time regarding the course he would take. inflation.”
“As I mentioned, there were unexpected and significant shocks to the economy, boosting energy and food prices, and supply bottlenecks that impacted our economy severely, which I didn’t fully understand at the time,” she added, adding that the shocks include the Russian military operation, and recent anti-Covid lockdowns. 19” in China.
And Yellen continued: “Indeed, the shocks to the economy continued, but inflation is the number one concern of President Biden,” noting that the latter “strongly believes and supports the independence of (the Federal Reserve), to take the necessary steps to reduce inflation.”
For his part, a White House official announced that Biden met, earlier yesterday, with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and stressed that he “respects the independence of the board.”
Yellen also noted that the Biden administration is taking measures to try to complement the Federal Reserve’s efforts by lowering the cost of prescription drugs and health care and by supporting proposals in Congress to promote the use of renewable energy.
She stated that the recent decline in core inflation data was encouraging, but indicated that oil prices are still high, and that Europe is working on a plan to ban Russian oil imports, stressing: “We cannot rule out more shocks.”