PIMCO’s Gross: "Bernanke might be driving in a fog…"
“The market basically has misinterpreted the growth and the unemployment targets while leaving out the inflation targets going forward…This is a combined growth, unemployment and inflation type of combination that has to be delicately managed.”
Gross said that he thinks Bernanke “might be driving in a fog” and on Janet Yellin, he said, “I think she is a Siamese twin in terms of policy.“
source: BLOOMBERG TELEVISION
“Based on what he said, based upon what the Fed estimates have given us in the last hour it suggests that yes, towards the end of the year, as we hit 7.25%, and if inflation rises as opposed to stays at 1% that the Fed would begin to taper and that ultimately they would end tapering in perhaps the first quarter of 2014. Is that a realistic possibility? At PIMCO, we don’t think that really is. We think the chairman and the Fed are taking a very much of a cyclical type of view. He blames lower growth on fiscal austerity and expects towards the end of the year once that is gone, all of the sudden the economy will be growing at 3%. He blames housing prices moving up on homeowners that simply like higher home prices as opposed to emphasizing the mortgage rate, which is really what has provided the lift in the first place. To certain extent his driving analogy, which he talked about pulling back on the accelerator, I think he might be driving in a fog. I think the Fed itself may be driving in a fog. To think that is a cyclical as opposed to a structural problem in terms of our economy. I simply think and PIMCO thinks that real growth to lower unemployment below 7% is a long shot over the next 6, 12, 18 months.”