Australia Backs Fed Taper as Hockey Says ‘Methadone’ to End

The world needs to adjust to the Federal Reserve’s tapering, Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey said, backing a stimulus reduction by the U.S. that sparked market turmoil and emergency measures in some emerging markets.

“It’s not something that hasn’t been foreshadowed,” Hockey said in an interview in Canberra yesterday. “The world can no longer rely on methadone every day. Sooner or later we need to wean ourselves off and that’s what tapering is about.”