Kathianne
10-05-2011, 04:52 AM
Notice the discussion he has regarding 'inflation being under control;' not so with food, clothing, and most everything else people need. The sole exemption being gasoline prices, which continue to fall with the markets.
So it appears they are looking to flood with more printed money, not cut spending, and say never mind those food prices. Yep, they are still cozying up to the banks and financials and don't give a damn about the long term.
http://news.yahoo.com/u-close-faltering-fed-ready-act-bernanke-065154564.html
U.S. "close to faltering," Fed ready to act: Bernankehttp://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/FZN6924R0WZ__x92.x6.GA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9Zml0O2g9Mjc-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/logo/reuters/d0c3eb8ca18907492a4b337b5cec5193.jpeg (http://www.reuters.com/)<cite id="yui_3_3_0_1_1317807528740465" class="byline vcard">By Pedro da Costa and Mark Felsenthal
</cite>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve is prepared to take further steps to help an economy that is "close to faltering," Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday in his bleakest assessment yet of the fragile U.S. recovery.
Citing anemic employment, depressed confidence, and financial risks from Europe, Bernanke urged lawmakers not to cut spending too quickly in the short term even as they grapple with trimming the long-run budget deficit.
He made clear that the U.S. central bank's policy committee considers inflationary pressures well under control and given high unemployment, would be ready to ease monetary conditions further following the launch of a new stimulus measure in September...
Asked whether another round of bond purchases, known as quantitative easing, was in store, Bernanke was noncommittal.
"We never take anything off the table because we don't know where the economy is going to go. We have no immediate plans to do anything like that," he said...
FISCAL WARNING
Bernanke said government belt-tightening was likely to prove a significant drag on the world's largest economy, which averaged less than 1.0 percent annualized growth in the first half of the year.
"An important objective is to avoid fiscal actions that could impede the ongoing economic recovery," he said, Stressing that higher inflation earlier in the year had not become ingrained in the economy, Bernanke argued price pressures will remain subdued for the foreseeable future.
That backdrop made it easier for the Fed to launch its latest monetary easing effort in September, when it announced it would be selling $400 billion in short-term Treasuries and using the proceeds to buy longer-dated ones...
INFLATION VS JOBS
Republican lawmakers pressed Bernanke on whether the Fed's dual mandate for full employment and price stability meant that it had to make compromises on inflation. On the 2012 presidential campaign trail, Republican candidate, Texas Governor Rick Perry earlier said it would be "treasonous" for the Fed to add further money to the economy.
Bernanke was categorical in defending the Fed's record of price stability in recent decades. He noted inflation has averaged 2.0 percent during his tenure and blamed regulatory failures, not excessively low rates, for the financial crisis.
Some economists believe the central bank could announce more concrete targets for policy goals, by linking the path of rates directly to unemployment and or inflation...
So it appears they are looking to flood with more printed money, not cut spending, and say never mind those food prices. Yep, they are still cozying up to the banks and financials and don't give a damn about the long term.
http://news.yahoo.com/u-close-faltering-fed-ready-act-bernanke-065154564.html
U.S. "close to faltering," Fed ready to act: Bernankehttp://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/FZN6924R0WZ__x92.x6.GA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9Zml0O2g9Mjc-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/logo/reuters/d0c3eb8ca18907492a4b337b5cec5193.jpeg (http://www.reuters.com/)<cite id="yui_3_3_0_1_1317807528740465" class="byline vcard">By Pedro da Costa and Mark Felsenthal
</cite>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve is prepared to take further steps to help an economy that is "close to faltering," Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday in his bleakest assessment yet of the fragile U.S. recovery.
Citing anemic employment, depressed confidence, and financial risks from Europe, Bernanke urged lawmakers not to cut spending too quickly in the short term even as they grapple with trimming the long-run budget deficit.
He made clear that the U.S. central bank's policy committee considers inflationary pressures well under control and given high unemployment, would be ready to ease monetary conditions further following the launch of a new stimulus measure in September...
Asked whether another round of bond purchases, known as quantitative easing, was in store, Bernanke was noncommittal.
"We never take anything off the table because we don't know where the economy is going to go. We have no immediate plans to do anything like that," he said...
FISCAL WARNING
Bernanke said government belt-tightening was likely to prove a significant drag on the world's largest economy, which averaged less than 1.0 percent annualized growth in the first half of the year.
"An important objective is to avoid fiscal actions that could impede the ongoing economic recovery," he said, Stressing that higher inflation earlier in the year had not become ingrained in the economy, Bernanke argued price pressures will remain subdued for the foreseeable future.
That backdrop made it easier for the Fed to launch its latest monetary easing effort in September, when it announced it would be selling $400 billion in short-term Treasuries and using the proceeds to buy longer-dated ones...
INFLATION VS JOBS
Republican lawmakers pressed Bernanke on whether the Fed's dual mandate for full employment and price stability meant that it had to make compromises on inflation. On the 2012 presidential campaign trail, Republican candidate, Texas Governor Rick Perry earlier said it would be "treasonous" for the Fed to add further money to the economy.
Bernanke was categorical in defending the Fed's record of price stability in recent decades. He noted inflation has averaged 2.0 percent during his tenure and blamed regulatory failures, not excessively low rates, for the financial crisis.
Some economists believe the central bank could announce more concrete targets for policy goals, by linking the path of rates directly to unemployment and or inflation...