Bullard Says Economy Strong Enough to Handle 2015 Rate Rise

James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said the U.S. economy is improving enough to withstand an increase in short-term interest rates next year as growth picks up.

“I’m starting to think the economy could tolerate at least a little bit of the central bank getting back to a more normal stance,” Bullard, who favors raising the benchmark rate in the first quarter of 2015, said at an event today in New York.