A lecture by James Bullard, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis was held in the North Hall on Mita Campus on Friday, May 26. This event was organized by the Faculty of Economics. After an opening address by Professor Shinsuke Nakamura, Dean of the Faculty of Economics, President Bullard gave a lecture titled “Current Growth, Inflation and Price Level Developments in the US.”
In his lecture, President Bullard reported on the recent condition of the American economy, saying that even though the employment situation has greatly improved, and from the financial side, an accommodative low-interest-rate environment has continued, the inflation rate and inflationary expectations have been decreasing. He also expressed his concern that in the medium-term, it looks unlikely that improvements in the labor market will contribute to an increase in the inflation rate.
During the question and answer session, one of the many questions President Bullard received from Keio students was regarding how the effects of monetary policies can be increased when there is a great difference in the degree of understanding of monetary policies and macroeconomics within the private sector. He answered that the important thing is to keep communicating and make every effort to ensure that there are no misunderstandings of the policy intention.
At the end of his lecture, President Bullard shared a story from his university days with Keio students. He said that when he was a graduate student, he was advised against majoring in macroeconomics because it has no unifying theories. However, he thought that because of the very reason that there are no definitive answers, it would be an interesting, challenging, and worthwhile field to study. President Bullard concluded the lecture by emphasizing the importance of tackling the unknown.
The hall was filled with students and faculty members, many of whom belong to the Faculty of Economics and the Graduate School of Economics. Those in attendance were listening intensely to President Bullard’s lecture from beginning to end.