Ben Bernanke

Why Does Anyone Care About Minutes Of Weeks-Old Fed Meetings?

Mark Memmott — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:47:00 +0000

There's been a bit of a brouhaha over the Federal Reserve's inadvertent early release Tuesday evening of minutes from its closed-door March 19-20 policy meeting.

As The Associated Press writes, "employees at JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs Group, Wells Fargo and Citigroup were among those to receive [the] market-sensitive information."

The Fed says a staffer mistakenly sent the report to a group, also including some trade associations and lawmakers, that should have gotten the information right a

Odd Political Bedfellows Agree: Banks Still Too Big To Fail

John Ydstie — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 22:21:00 +0000
Amid Washington's dysfunction, one issue has united some liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans: a common concern that "too big to fail" is alive and well.
Despite the Dodd-Frank financial reforms, these lawmakers believe the nation's largest banks still pose a threat to the economy and that the government will step in to bail them out if they get in trouble.
At a recent hearing on Capitol Hill, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., confronted Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke with her concerns. "We've now understood this problem for nearly five years," she said.

Home Sales, Consumer Confidence And Bernanke All On Positive Side

Mark Memmott — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:27:00 +0000
Today's economic indicators all point up:
-- New Home Sales: There was a 15.6 percent surge in sales of new homes in January from December, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development say. That was the biggest one-month gain in nearly 20 years, according to The Associated Press. At an annual rate of 437,000, the sales pace was the strongest since July 2008.

Ben Bernanke Acts Like His Hair Is On Fire

Jacob Goldstein — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:29:00 +0000
The leaders of the Federal Reserve just did something that sounds boring but is actually a big deal: They promised to keep short-term interest rates at zero at least until the unemployment rate falls below 6.5 percent, or inflation rises to over 2.5 percent.
It's clear on its face why this sounds boring.

A Grand Bargain Could Bring Good New Year For U.S. Economy, Says Bernanke

Eyder Peralta — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 23:00:00 +0000
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned again that driving off the fiscal cliff could be detrimental to the U.S. economy. However, if a grand bargain is reached by politicians in Washington, Bernanke said during a speech a the Economic Club of New York, it could be a good new year for the U.S.
"There's important potential for the economy to strengthen significantly if there's a greater level of security and confidence about where we're going," Bernanke said.