Stein Says QE Taper Choice Should Depend on Economic Data

Federal Reserve Governor Jeremy Stein, who has backed record stimulus, said officials considering when to start reducing the pace of asset purchases should evaluate economic data since the program began last September, rather than looking only at the most recent figures.

The Federal Open Market Committee should “be clear that in making a decision in, say, September, it will give primary weight to the large stock of news that has accumulated since the inception of the program and will not be unduly influenced by whatever data releases arrive in the few weeks before the meeting -- as salient as these releases may appear to be to market participants,” Stein said today in New York.