Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard deserves to lose his job after speaking at a private event in potential violation of communications rules, a former economist at the central bank said.
“It’s inexcusable and to me it’s not an optics problem, it’s an ethics problem,” Claudia Sahm, founder of Sahm Consulting, said Friday on “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene and Lisa Abramowicz.
“Jim Bullard is one of the Fed officials that is making a decision about rate hikes that have effects in the United States, will have effects for US workers, and they are having effects around the globe. The idea that he gave any kind of private remarks to investors is outrageous, and he should go.”
Bullard, a closely watched policy maker, spoke last week at an invitation-only private event hosted by Citigroup Inc. The remarks have sparked criticism from Fed watchers who said they appear to be a violation of central bank rules, though it’s unclear what any penalty would be.
The St. Louis Fed said Thursday that it will “think differently” in the future following commentary about Bullard’s appearance.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.