Top Banker: 'Feral Hogs' of Market Will not Break Fed
The "feral hogs" of the financial markets will not sway the U.S. Federal Reserve from scaling back its bond-buying program when it deems the time to be right, a leading central banker told Tuesday's Financial Times.
Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas Federal Reserve and a member of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, said that recent market volatility following central bank chief Ben Bernanke's suggestion that he may wind down the $85 billion-a-month bond purchases reminded him of Britain's 1992 currency crisis.
"We haven't forgotten what happened to the Bank of England," he told the paper. "I don't think anyone can break the Fed...but I do believe that big money can organize itself somewhat like feral hogs. If they detect a weakness or a bad scent, they'll go after it."
U.S. equities have been buoyed by the liquidity provided by the bond-buying process, but central bankers are worried that it may create bubbles and push up inflation.
Legendary investor George Soros pocketed around $1 billion after leading the 1992 attack on the Bank of England, which was desperately trying to strengthen sterling in order to meet European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) requirements.
The government's decision to quit the ERM in the wake of the attack earned Soros the nickname "the man who broke the Bank of England".
Source: Agence France Presse
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