Even by the end of last year, Yellen began pivoting from the “transitory” descriptor. “I am ready to retire the word transitory,” Yellen said at an event in December. “I can agree that that hasn’t been an apt description of what we are dealing with.”
Yellen’s mea culpa before lawmakers is similar to comments she made last week to CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer. “Well, look, I think I was wrong then about the path that inflation would take,” Yellen said. “As I mentioned, there have been unanticipated and large shocks to the economy that have boosted energy and food prices and supply bottlenecks that have affected our economy badly. … But we recognize that now.”
Oh goody! You recognize that now! Hey, many of us have been saying that for a year. What took you so long?