By Sam Boughedda
Chairman of Gramercy Funds Mohamed El-Erian told Bloomberg on Friday that the Federal Reserve won't be able to get U.S. inflation to its 2% target without "crushing the economy."
The economist made the argument because he believes the 2% target "is not the right target."
"You need a higher stable inflation rate. Call it 3 to 4%," El-Erian told Bloomberg Television. The comments follow the recent CPI data, which showed consumer prices rose 0.5% in January, the most in three months.
El-Erian also said the Fed is "too data dependent," adding that it is the "right to take data into account, but you've got to have a view of where you're going,"
El-Erian said the Fed's problem now is that it is stuck chasing an elusive 2% goal and that you "can't change an inflation target when you've missed it in such a big way."