Ben Bernanke says the recession is “very likely over”—does that make you “breathe a sigh of relief”? said Kimberly Amadeo in About.com. “I didn’t think so.” That “queasy” feeling you have in the pit of your stomach is probably telling you something different—that with unemployment, bankruptcies, and foreclosures still rising, the economic crisis is still on, “even IF the recession is over (notice the big IF).”
Your gut and Bernanke are both right, said 24/7 Wall Street. Bernanke wasn’t being “insensitive” to the ongoing “human misery” when he told the Brookings Institution that the recession has, technically, ended—he’s just “very specific about his choice of words and his role in the system.” He isn’t in charge of “promoting happiness,” just monetary policy.
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