Back to the '70s as Fed fuels boom and hopes for no Burns marks

WASHINGTON (Mar 17) - Federal Reserve officials are due to issue new economic projections on Wednesday, with GDP growth likely to be a blow-out number that sets the stage for an historic experiment by U.S. central bank policymakers.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues are betting the economy can take off from the COVID-19 pandemic without generating excessive inflation, and have vowed to keep interest rates at rock-bottom levels and a spigot of money flowing for an extended period as they lean into a potential economic boom in a way not seen since the early 1970s.

In each of the quarterly forecasts released since June, the median GDP growth projection of Fed officials has been slightly above the median of private forecasters polled by Reuters. If that holds, it would translate into expected growth this year of more than 6.2% - the highest annual rate in 37 years.

Reuters