Historic Inflation Ignites Growing Calls to Speed Taper

A growing consensus of market watchers, investors and traders says that the Federal Reserve Bank has to speed up its taper procedures, namely the reduction of asset purchases in light of the fastest inflation in 31 years.

The calls, ranging from former New York Fed President Bill Dudley to St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, have come at a tricky time for the U. S. central bank.

Fed only announced plans to reduce its asset purchase program less than two weeks ago, while noting it could tinker with the $15 billion monthly tapering pace if warranted. Only one week later, a report showed the consumer price index rose at the fastest annual pace since 1990.