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A lecture on federal monetary policy isn't necessarily most people's idea of a rip-roaring Thursday night.
But Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President and CEO Eric Rosengren can clearly draw a crowd. About 200 people filled the Mildred Sainer Pavilion at New College of Florida in Sarasota Thursday night to hear his speech on labor markets and the economy — a presentation nearly thwarted by winter. (Rosengren checked into the downtown Sarasota Hyatt at 3 a.m., after several snow-induced delays getting out of Boston.)
Considered one of the leading Federal Reserve voices for aggressive stimulus action, Rosengren was also tracked by a pack of national financial reporters. New College media relations officials even had to set up a separate room for reporters, so they could work while watching a video of his speech.
Rosengren indicated early on in his talk that there's positive data to come out of the ongoing recovery. “It's a pretty good story,” he told the crowd.
But the meat of his presentation was mostly the opposite, thanks to a job market punctured by underemployed and the ones who gave up on being unemployed. Those groups, combined with other unemployed, equate to 20 million Americans being out of work, Rosengren says, a staggering figure. “That's a big number,” he says. “We are a long way from where we need to be.”
That's why Rosengren says he favors a policy that leans toward more Federal Reserve stimulus programs, like bond purchases. Says Rosengren: “I firmly believe that monetary policymakers should remain quite patient in removing accommodation.”
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