by Calculated Risk on 4/05/2011 02:00:00 PM

From the March 15, 2011 FOMC meeting. On tapering purchases:

The Manager also discussed the possible benefits of gradually reducing the pace of the Federal Reserve's purchases of Treasury securities when the current asset purchase program nears completion. As its earlier program of agency MBS purchases drew to a close, the Federal Reserve tapered its purchases during the first quarter of 2010 in order to avoid disruptions in the market for those securities. However, the Manager indicated that the greater depth and liquidity of the Treasury securities market suggested that it would not be necessary to taper purchases in this market. The Manager noted that market participants appeared to have reached the same conclusion, as they generally did not seem to expect the Federal Reserve to taper its purchases of Treasury securities. In light of the Manager's report, almost all meeting participants indicated that they saw no need to taper the pace of the Committee's purchases of Treasury securities when its current program of asset purchases approaches its end.

And on the outlook:

Participants expected that the boost to headline inflation from recent increases in energy and other commodity prices would be transitory and that underlying inflation trends would be little affected as long as commodity prices did not continue to rise rapidly and longer-term inflation expectations remained stable.
...
Participants generally judged the risks to their forecasts of growth in economic activity to be roughly balanced. They continued to see some downside risks from the banking and fiscal strains in the European periphery, the continuing fiscal adjustments by U.S. state and local governments, and the ongoing weakness in the housing market. Several also noted the possibility of larger-than-anticipated near-term cuts in federal government spending. Moreover, the economic implications of the tragedy in Japan--for example, with respect to global supply chains--were not yet clear. On the upside, the improvement in labor market conditions in recent months raised the possibility that household spending--and subsequently business investment--might expand more rapidly than anticipated; if so, the recovery could be stronger than currently projected. Participants judged that the potential for more-widespread disruptions in oil production, and thus for a larger jump in energy prices, posed both downside risks to growth and upside risks to inflation.
...
A few participants indicated that economic conditions might warrant a move toward less-accommodative monetary policy this year; a few others noted that exceptional policy accommodation could be appropriate beyond 2011.

Nothing suggests QE2 will end early. Oil has emerged as a clear downside risk. The Fed will not taper the purchases of QE2 as they did for earlier programs. Oh - and inflation is "transitory" unless oil prices keep going up and up.