Becker Says Bernanke May Fail to Curb Inflation During

From Bloomberg.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker said he is concerned that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may bend to political pressure and fail to raise interest rates quickly enough to contain inflation.

Becker, a University of Chicago professor, warned that there is a “big risk” of inflation as the economy recovers, largely because of the hundreds of billions of dollars in excess reserves that banks have on deposit at the Fed. He said Bernanke “has the tools” to control inflation, by selling Treasury bonds rather than by purchasing them, and by reversing the central bank’s emergency programs expanding credit.