Fed: Bernanke sends no stimulus signal
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered no suggestion during a highly anticipated speech last week in Jackson Hole, Wyo., that the central bank would take any new actions to improve the economy, said Greg Robb in MarketWatch.com. Last year, Bernanke used the annual conference of central bankers to reassure markets that the Fed would step in if the economy continued to struggle; several months later, it pumped $600 billion into the banking system. But the Fed could yet act. Bernanke reminded his audience that the central bank has “a range of tools” at its disposal, and announced that the Fed’s meeting this month would be extended by a day to explore whether the economy needs more stimulus.
The most notable aspect of Bernanke’s remarks was the blame he laid on Washington politicians for the economy’s woes, said Binyamin Appelbaum in The New York Times. Suggesting that the debt-ceiling debate had disrupted markets “and probably the economy as well,” Bernanke said the U.S. “would be well served by a better process for making fiscal decisions.” The remarks “went well beyond” what Bernanke has said in the past about how government action can hamper recovery.
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Greece: European Union debt deal looks shaky
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Oil: Exxon strikes Arctic oil agreement with Russia
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