Fed Urged by Taylor, Asness to End Asset Purchases

A group including former Republican government officials and economists urged Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke to halt his expansion of monetary stimulus, saying it risks an inflation surge.

“The planned asset purchases risk currency debasement and inflation, and we do not think they will achieve the Fed’s objective of promoting employment,” said the letter, signed by 23 people including Cliff Asness, who runs AQR Capital Management LLC, one of the world’s biggest hedge funds; Stanford University Professor John Taylor, creator of a monetary-policy formula used by the Fed; and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former Congressional Budget Office director.