Economic Decline May Have Slowed
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke presented a report Tuesday about the U.S. economy's health. On the "bright side," the economy appears to be declining at a slower rate than before, but home prices are still falling, credit is still very tight and, oh yeah, job losses are still rising. As a result of all the good news, the Fed intends to maintain "exceptionally low" interest rates for a while longer.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke presented a report Tuesday on the U.S. economy’s health before the House Financial Services Committee. On the “bright side,” the economy appears to be declining at a slower rate than before, but home prices are still falling, credit is still very tight and, oh yeah, job losses are still rising. As a result of all the good news, the Fed intends to maintain “exceptionally low” interest rates for a while longer.
Wait, before you go…The New York Times:
The pace of economic decline appears to have slowed, but the labor market remains weak and, in response, the Federal Reserve is likely to maintain interest rates at “exceptionally low levels for extended periods,” Ben S. Bernanke, the Fed’s chairman, told lawmakers on Tuesday.
Testifying before the House Committee on Financial Services, Mr. Bernanke said in his comments that despite positive signs of an improvement in the American economy, “the job loss rate remains high and the unemployment rate continues its steep rise.”
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Market forces are colliding as another U.S. financial crisis brews. Meanwhile, sit tight on the roller coaster.
The September/October issue of Foreign Affairs features an article titled “Print Less But Transfer More: Why Central Banks Should Give Money Directly To The People.” It’s the sort of thing normally heard only from money reformers and Social Credit enthusiasts far from the mainstream. What’s going on?
"Hundreds of pages of transcripts, based on recordings made at the time, reveal the ignorance of Fed officials about economic conditions during the climactic months of the financial crisis," The New York Times reports.
Congress has the power to amend the Fed -- just as it did in 1934, 1958 and 2010. For the central bank to satisfy its mandate to promote full employment and become an institution that serves all the people -- not just the 1% -- the Fed needs fundamental reform.
There is a tradeoff for all the loot Obama’s friends have been pilfering from working people, and that tradeoff is trust. Americans no longer have confidence in the government, the market or the justice system. And while the effects might not appear in the next month or two, there are sectors of the economy that are showing signs of weakness already.
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