More Experts Say Fed Has Cut Too Timidly

Sizing up the Federal Reserve’s policies over the last six months, a growing number of U.S. economists fear the central bank’s interest rate cuts have been too meager, a survey showed. The poll by the influential National Assn. for Business Economics was taken in early March, before the Fed’s March 20 meeting, at which it reduced interest rates by half a percentage point. Investors and many economists had been widely predicting the cut. The survey of 267 of the economics group’s members indicated that many were very concerned about the weakness in the economy and wanted the Fed to act aggressively. Fifty-six percent of the poll participants described the Fed’s posture as “just right,” the lowest percentage in more than five years. About one-third of poll participants considered the Fed policy “too restrictive.”