No More Fed Action?

"The economy's growing respectably,"
Said economists surveyed collectively,
"So a Fed funds regime
At a low-rate extreme
Is an outlook we look upon skeptic'ly."

The Wall Street Journal has reported the results of its latest survey of US economists, and, while not especially pretty, they do not paint an ugly picture either. Writes the Journal's Phil Izzo, "More economists are convinced the Federal Reserve won't take further action to spur growth this year, as the economy appears to be on firmer footing." The "respectable" 2.2% first quarter growth rate is forecast to bump up to an annual 2.7% GDP increase by year end. As a result, 36 of the 51 economists surveyed expect the Fed to refrain from any additional large-scale bond-buying. Interest rates? The consensus is that they've gone about as low as they can go, and the mean forecast for the June 2014 Fed funds rate is 1%. Come to think of it, that is a rather mean forecast, but it's better than nothing.