Bernanke: Fed QE Contributes To Inequality, Says It Should Not Concern Fed

Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke acknowledged today that the use of “non-traditional” quantitative stimulus might have, in fact, widened income inequality, but he also notes this didn’t disadvantage the middle class and poor and said it should not be a concern of monetary policy.

“The claim that Fed policy has worsened inequality usually begins with the (correct) observation that monetary easing works in part by raising asset prices, like stock prices,” Bernanke wrote on his Brookings Institute blog today.  “As the rich own more assets than the poor and middle class, the reasoning goes, the Fed's policies are increasing the already large disparities of wealth in the United States.”