Fed's Williams sees economy picking up in 2014

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)
U.S. economic growth will pick up speed in 2014, said John Williams, the president of the San Francisco Fed, on Thursday
As the economy gets better, the Fed can start "easing off the gas" by reducing the pace of its asset purchases program, Williams said, without providing a timetable
Williams said the first step to taper would not come on any fixed date
"Instead, it will be in response to economic developments and the progress we have made towards our dual goals of maximum employment and price stability," he said in a speech to a business group in Boise, Idaho