Afternoon Must-Read: Danny Vinik: Richard Fisher Has Wrongly Warned of Inflation 5 Times Since 2011

Danny Vinik: Richard Fisher Has Wrongly Warned of Inflation 5 Times Since 2011: “This isn’t the first time Fisher…

…has been at odds with his colleagues. When the Fed undertook ‘Operation Twist’ in 2011, Fisher was one of three members of the Federal Open Market Committee… to dissent. He’s… been the committee’s staunchest inflation hawk… Monday’s… was just the latest of many warnings…. April 8, 2011: ‘Having done our job, I see many risks to the Federal Reserve overstaying its position…’ September 27, 2011: ‘I might conclude by sharing my concerns about the prospect of temporarily allowing more inflation as a means of unlocking expansion in final demand…. [O]nce unleashed, inflation combines with stagnation to make stagflation…’ April 10, 2012: ‘I’m just reporting what I hear on the street, which is a real concern that with our expanded balance sheet, we are just a little bit in an ember of what could become an inflationary fire.’  September 20, 2012: ‘I do not see an overall argument for letting inflation rise to levels where we might scare the market…’ 5. June 4, 2013: ‘I argue that the Fed is, at best, pushing on a string and, at worst, building up kindling for speculation and eventually, a massive shipboard fire of inflation.’ So take Fisher’s predictions with a grain of salt. More than anyone else on the FOMC, he has been wrong about the economic implications of Fed policy…