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Federal Reserve
Bernanke: Mideast Threat to US Economy Is Mild -- For Now
By Joseph Schuman - AOL NewsThe spike in fuel prices, sparked by Mideast turmoil, currently poses only a mild threat of broader inflation because the ailing U.S. jobs market has kept a lid on wages, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress today. But a continuing rise in the prices of oil and other commodities like steel, cotton and food could threaten both the economic recovery and stability for the cost of daily life for most Americans, Bernanke said. "In the past few weeks, concerns about unrest in the Middle East and North Africa and the possible effects on global oil supplies have led oil and gasoline ...
Bernanke Warns High Oil Prices Could Threaten Economy
By not in system - AOL NewsWASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Tuesday that a prolonged rise in oil prices would pose a danger to the economy. But he said a more likely outcome is a temporary and modest increase in consumer prices - not runaway inflation. Bernanke, in prepared testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, expressed confidence that economic growth would increase this year. But he warned it won't be strong enough to quickly lower unemployment, now at 9 percent. He also cited other risks to the economy, including rising prices for oil, gasoline, food and other commodities, and ...
From Farming to Fashion, Inflation Looks to Be on Its Way
By Joseph Schuman - AOL NewsThe food on your plate, the gas in your tank, the plastic in your children's toys and the clothing on their backs are likely to get more expensive in the coming months in a spurt of inflation that could play havoc with the economic recovery. Consumers haven't yet felt many cost increases in their daily and weekly lives, thanks to companies' skittishness when it comes to raising prices amid widespread unemployment, but evidence is growing that inflation is working its way to store shelves and Americans' wallets. The Labor Department today said that wholesale prices for finished goods rose 0.8 ...
When Do Inflation, Debt Become Bigger Worries Than Jobs?
By Joseph Schuman - AOL NewsSo much for the jobs-jobs-jobs agenda. The epidemic unemployment gripping the the country may still be the top priority of the Federal Reserve. But other issues loom larger for the new majority in the House of Representatives, as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke learned this morning in his first testimony of the year before a committee that has switched hands to Republicans. There was little change in Bernanke's outlook from his recent public comments -- an economy picking up steam, inflation that's tame and stubbornly high unemployment that's unlikely to abate anytime soon -- but his audience in ...
Bernanke Encouraged by Sharp Drop in Unemployment
By not in system - AOL NewsFederal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Wednesday that the sharp drop in unemployment over the last two months is encouraging but cautioned that it will take several years for hiring to return to normal. See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/e2eqhY ...
From Aspiring Actress to Economic Leader, Duke Says It's 'Personal'
By Joseph Schuman - AOL NewsIt seems safe to say that Elizabeth Duke started her professional life thinking more of Shakespeare than small-business loans, leading roles on stage rather than leadership of a $14.8 trillion economy amid the tumult of financial crisis. But Duke, now a governor on the board of the Federal Reserve and an active player in efforts to heal an economy with millions of Americans out of work, says it was her aspirations as an actress that led her to become a banker. Chris Rank, Bloomberg/Getty Images Elizabeth Duke, a governor of the U.S. Federal Reserve, recently told a student ...
Pain of the Jobless Belies Rosier Economic Outlook From Bernanke
By Joseph Schuman - AOL NewsThe U.S. economy is doing better -- unless you're out of work or worry about the cost of buying gasoline and putting food on your table. That was an unspoken bottom line of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech today at the National Press Club in Washington, where he asserted that the U.S. economic recovery is back on track and that the emergency measures taken by the Fed are working. "Overall," Bernanke said, "improving household and business confidence, accommodative monetary policy, and more-supportive financial conditions, including an apparent increase in the willingness of ...
Financial Crisis Report Spreads Blame Far and Wide for Meltdown
By Tom Kavanagh - Politics DailyThere's plenty of blame to spread around -- and the financial crisis was avoidable. In a nutshell, that's the conclusion of a report released Thursday by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, a congressionally appointed body that explored reasons for the 2007-08 meltdown that led to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. From government regulators and policymakers to Wall Street's power players, the 633-page report cites a vast of array of contributors to the near-disaster, the effects of which still grip the nation. "A crisis of this magnitude cannot be the work of a few ...
Vexed by Joblessness, Fed Sticks to Cheap-Money Plans
By Joseph Schuman - AOL NewsFor all the knotty financial, psychological and political factors complicating the Federal Reserve's effort to get the economy back on track, one persistent and simple truth in its monetary policy statement today says it all: "Employers remain reluctant to add to payrolls." The United States just isn't putting back to work the millions of Americans who lost their jobs during and since the 2008-09 recession. And "the disappointingly slow" progress toward the Fed's objective almost seems to mock the central banks' long-running and continuing promise to keep its benchmark costs for borrowed ...
Economy Ends 2010 on Strong Note, Federal Reserve Says
By not in system - AOL NewsWASHINGTON -- The U.S. economy ended last year on an encouraging note, with all parts of the country showing improvements. Factories produced more, shoppers spent more and companies hired more. All those signs point to a stronger economy in 2011. That's the picture that emerges from the Federal Reserve's survey of nationwide economic conditions released Wednesday. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is optimistic that the economy will strengthen this year, but warned last week that it will take up to five years for unemployment, now at 9.4 percent, to drop to a historically normal level of around 6 ...
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