Today, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the U.S. economy grew at a 1.6 percent annual pace in the second quarter. The report was a second analysis, revising the number down from an initial estimate of 2.4 percent. That is a dismally slow pace of growth, but More…
For months, a debate has raged over whether the Federal Reserve, the country’s central bank, should do more to help the economy — particularly to gin up more employment. At The Washington Post, Neil Irwin builds on a helpful metaphor from The Nation’s Chris Hayes to explain how these More…
In a new Federal Reserve policy statement, the Federal Open Market Committee said that the pace of recovery has slowed. Conditions have deteriorated, unemployment remains high, bank lending has contracted and things will get better at a “more modest” pace than expected. It is the least optimistic statement this More…
This morning, members of the Federal Open Market Committee are meeting to discuss the country’s monetary policy. They are expected to release a report at 2:15 p.m. reiterating the troubles in the economy and stating the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates near zero for an “extended period.” But with More…
Today, The Wall Street Journal reports that the Federal Reserve is looking at a symbolic policy change in light of the sagging recovery — something designed to restore confidence, rather than to attack primary problems like stagnant wages or high rates of joblessness.
Today, Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, addressed the annual meeting of the Southern Legislative Conference of the Council of State Governments. The topic was timely: the yawning budget gaps facing states.
Bruce Bartlett writes that there is little the Fed or the Treasury can do to winnow down unemployment in the face of congressional intransigence on additional stimulus:
[T]hose who advocate a monetary helicopter-drop of money to stimulate growth concede that the Fed doesn’t have the capacity to do it
Today and tomorrow, Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, is delivering his twice-yearly Monetary Policy Report to Congress and taking questions — today from the Senate Banking Committee, tomorrow from the House Financial Services Committee.
Bernanke’s prepared testimony is more cautious than his last, given More…
Today, the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its June Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Noting strong economic headwinds, the FOMC revised down its forecasts for growth, inflation and employment. The FOMC essentially determined that conditions had deteriorated, but not enough to warrant any changes to the Fed’s behavior:
This morning, the National Federation of Independent Business, the small-business lobbying group, announced that its index of optimism among small business owners slid down in June. “Seventy percent of the decline this month resulted from deterioration in the outlook for business conditions and expected real sales gains. Owners have More…
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