Fed’s Bullard Favors $100 Billion Start to Easing

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard proposed the central bank buy $100 billion in long-term Treasuries next month and calibrate subsequent purchases based on the course of economic recovery.

“If we do decide to go ahead with quantitative easing, I think there is a good program we could adopt, one I like, which is to think in units of $100 billion between meetings” of the Federal Open Market Committee, Bullard said today at a conference hosted by the district bank. “We could give forward guidance for the next meeting that would suggest how likely the committee thinks we would continue these purchases.”