Ex-Fed Chair Paul Volcker on Bernanke Policies: Good luck in that

The Bloomberg has a noteworthy quote on Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker's recent speech dealing with the policies of the incumbent Fed chief Ben Bernanke which the former thinks that the FED may “fall short” in achieving their goals (bold mine)

The Federal Reserve, any central bank, should not be asked to do too much to undertake responsibilities that it cannot responsibly meet with its appropriately limited powers,” Volcker said. He said a central bank’s basic responsibility is for a “stable currency.”

“Credibility is an enormous asset,” Volcker said. “Once earned, it must not be frittered away by yielding to the notion that a little inflation right now is a good a thing, a good thing to release animal spirits and to pep up investment.”

“The implicit assumption behind that siren call must be that the inflation rate can be manipulated to reach economic objectives,” according to Volcker. “Up today, maybe a little more tomorrow and then pulled back on command. Good luck in that. All experience demonstrates that inflation, when fairly and deliberately started, is hard to control and reverse.”

When price inflation rears its ugly head, it will be sudden, swift and dramatic.