As I’ve just discussed, in response to these changes in economic conditions, the Committee should have lowered the level of monetary accommodation over the course of the year. Instead, through actions taken at its last two meetings, the Committee has raised the level of monetary accommodation.
In this sense, the Committee’s recent actions in 2011 are inconsistent with the evolution of the economic data in 2011. I want to be clear about one additional point. Along with many private sector forecasters, the FOMC has overestimated the strength of the recovery over the past two years.