US Economy: Fed Chiefs Hope Central Bank Reduces Bond Purchases Over Inflation, Housing Market Fears

Ahead of this week's global summit of central bank heads in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a trio of Federal Reserve presidents from across the U.S. shared their thoughts on what the bank should do next to help the economy.

Their suggestion? Curtail the $120 billion in monthly bond purchases to curb inflation.

Two of these regional heads, Dallas Fed Chairman Robert Kaplan and Kansas City Chairwoman Esther George, explained Thursday on CNBC why now was the right time to curtail the Fed’s bond buying.

George said that the level of jobs growth in recent months on top of rising inflation should signal that now was the time to begin tightening monetary policy. She did not offer a specific date for when she thinks this should begin, but she does not believe it will take much more time.

“When you look at the job gains we saw last month, the month before, you look at the level of inflation right now, I think it would suggest that the level of accommodation we’re providing right now is probably not needed in this scenario,” she told CNBC’s Steve Liesman. “So I would be ready to talk about taper sooner rather than later.”

Kaplan made a similar point but said a plan to ease off bond buying should come in September with an implementation plan in place by October. He noted that the purpose of the Fed’s asset purchases at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic was geared toward stimulating increased demand in the economy, but he did not see the U.S. economy as having a problem with demand at this time.

While the Delta variant of COVID-19 is continuing to push case numbers higher, both Kaplan and George say that the mutated virus has not dramatically affected the entire macroeconomic picture.

Instead, Kaplan worries about the unintended side effects the continuation of bond buying is having on financial markets and inflation.

"We are seeing some distortions and excesses that need to get normalized," Kaplan said.

He added that the ripple effect on the housing market in particular is worrisome because he says rising prices will have a disproportionate impact on low-income communities. “I think at the Fed we have to take that very seriously,” Kaplan said.

In a separate interview with CNBC’s "Squawk Box," St. Louis Federal Reserve President Steve Bullard argued that the initial bond buying was appropriate when it began last year, but inflation is moving beyond any earlier targets the central bank would have liked to see it reach. For this reason, he says that the program should be curtailed before it is too late, especially in the housing sector.

“I think that there is worry that we’re doing more damage than helping with the asset purchases because there is an incipient housing bubble in the U.S. The median house price, at least the number I saw, was approaching $400,000,” said Bullard, who is considered a hawk on interest-rate policy. “We got into a lot of trouble in the mid-2000s by being too complacent about housing prices, so I think we want to be very careful on that this time around.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is slated to speak Friday. His remarks are widely anticipated for any sign of how he will approach alterations to the bond-buying program.