Economic conditions will continue to improve, allowing the Federal Reserve to start raising short-term interest rates between the mid-and late 2015, said Dennis Lockhart, the president of the Atlanta Fed, on Thursday. In a speech in Jackson, Miss., Lockhart said he was not concerned waiting until the second half of next year would foster a "systemic" financial event. He said he took comfort in the "much-strengthened defenses" of the banking system, financial institutions in general, and regulators. Lockhart said that inflation would only gradually rise towards the Fed's 2% annual target rate. He said he was more worried about inflation undershooting the target than overshooting it. Earlier Thursday, Dallas Fed PresidentRichard Fisher, a more hawkish Fed president, said the first rate hike might come in the spring. link