Bill Gross has a different opinion from Bill Dudley. Both men are very smart. Both have axes to grind.
(Reuters) - Despite "anemic" U.S. growth so far this year, the risk of a double-dip recession is "quite low", a top Federal Reserve policymaker said on Thursday.
"The risk of a recession is somewhat higher than it was six months ago. That said, I think the risk of a recession is still quite low," William Dudley, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, told New Jersey business leaders.
Dudley said that only some of the restraints on growth, such as high oil prices and Japan's earthquake in the first half of the year, can be considered temporary.
"The risks have risen a little bit, but I think we very much still expect the economy to recover. We expect ... growth to be significantly firmer than it was during the first half of the year," he said. "But obviously there is some concern.
The central bank's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) took the unprecedented step last week of promising to keep interest rates near zero for a set period of time - at least until mid-2013. The Fed also said it was weighing other options to help strengthen a weak recovery.
