Bush Signals Disagreement With the Fed: Issue of Growth Is Key to Economy
President Bush,- indicating anppe ent disagreement with ,current Federal Reserve policy, said yesterday the central bank should not be trying to slow economic growth because of a fear of inflation. ,	,	..	-</br></br>President Bush,- indicating anppe ent disagreement with ,current Federal Reserve policy, said yesterday the central bank should not be trying to slow economic growth because of a fear of inflation. ,	,	..	- uusn was responomg to questions about comments Tuesday by Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, who told Congress the risk of higher inflation is great enough that Fed pokey on interest rates and credit should err more on the side of restrictiveness than of stimulus."	.</br></br>Bush declared: "1 haven t talked to Alan lately, but I donÛªt want to see us move so strongly against font of inflation that we impede growth. We have to keep expanding opportunities for the working men and women of this country.Û</br></br>Since last March the Fed has raised short-term interest rates by about 2.5 percentage points explicitly to slow the economic expansion to a pace no faster than 3 percent uus year. Greenspan and most other Fed policymakers believe growth that is fast enough to keep the unemployment rate falling steadily will even- r ul uiemiure, reu uaiciais oeueve the ultimate costÛÓin terms of lost jobs and production-ÛÓof reducing in-flation after it has been allowed to accelerate would be much greater than if it is held in check now.</br></br>ÛÏThe experience of the past two decades vividly illustrates the problems that arise when accelerating prices and wages have to be countered later by severely restrictive policies,Û Greenspan said Tuesday.