The Fed needs to act, communicate more boldly, Dean Susan Collins tells CNBC

August 30, 2012

Susan Collins, the Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of Public Policy, told CNBC Thursday she believes the Federal Reserve should act boldly to stimulate the U.S. economy.

"I think the Fed should and can do more," Collins said. "It's not just quantitative easing. It's how it communicates its policy, which I think is hugely important in terms of making a difference."

Collins joined CNBC's Steve Liesman from the Federal Reserve's annual conference at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where she will chair one of the conference sessions Friday.

"The Fed has said it will keep the interest rates low until 2014 as long as economic conditions warrant it," Collins said. "But inflation is running around 2 percent and most people interpret that as meaning there's relatively little room for more expansion. So what I think the Fed really needs to do is boldly communicate what its goals are. One of the boldest ways to do that would be to shift to nominal GDP targeting."