“I project that with our accomodative monetary policy, with a strengthening economy, and with stable inflation expectations, those will bring the inflation rate back to our 2 percent objective. But I expect the progress on inflation to be slow,” Pianalto said.
Pianalto — who detailed the Fed’s shift from the federal funds rate to more unconventional policy tools in response to the 2008 financial crisis and economic recession — was the keynote speaker at UD’s 14th annual Redefining Investment Strategy Education forum.
The event, know as RISE, drew an estimated 2,000 people to UD Arena on Thursday, including students from 126 educational institutions in the U.S. and Canada.
Pianalto, who will retire in June after three decades at the Fed, said she has a personal connection to UD — her nephew is a freshman engineering student at the school. She cheered the UD Flyers in advance of the team’s NCAA Tournament game Thursday night against Stanford University, and was presented a Sweet 16 T-shirt by David Kudla, executive director of RISE 14.
CNBC’s Kelly Evans joked that UD Sweet 16 T-shirt sales represent a “stimulus plan for this part of the country.”
Evans anchored CNBC’s “Closing Bell” live from the conference, and also moderated a panel on the economy that featured top strategists from BlackRock, Oppenheimer Funds and Lord Abbett & Co.
Ariel Barnett, a senior at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas, said she attended RISE to learn about investment strategies and a possible career in finance. “This is just one more tool to help get me excited about the industry, and I look forward to learning everything at all the breakout sessions this week,” she said.
RISE continues today and Saturday with panels and workshops on the UD campus.
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