Fed’s Harker Blames ‘Scourge’ of High Inflation on Too Much Government Spending and Easy Money Policies

Patrick Harker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, addresses an audience at the Philadelphia Fed in 2017. Courtesy of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Excessive spending by the government and accommodative policies of the Federal Reserve have triggered rampant inflation in the United States that is hurting poorer Americans more, according to Patrick T. Harker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

The COVID-19 pandemic threw the United States into one of the “sharpest recessions” in history. However, this downturn was followed by a period of “extraordinary economic growth” that established the foundation for rampant inflation. “Large doses of fiscal spending from the federal government and accommodative monetary policy from the Federal Reserve stoked demand,” Harker said in a speech on Jan. 12.