Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will start holding regular media briefings on monetary policy next month, a historic shift to greater openness at the traditionally secretive U.S. central bank. Get the full story »
Inside these posts: Ben Bernanke
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Fed to weigh in on bank dividends on Friday
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. (Jonathan Ernst/Getty Images)
Some of the largest U.S. banks will be notified on Friday whether they passed a second round of stress tests conducted by the Federal Reserve, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Get the full story »
Bernanke talk on jobs, prices weigh on dollar
The dollar lost ground Wednesday after a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested that the central bank will keep interest rates at record lows and continue its $600 billion bond purchases. Get the full story »
Bernanke says job growth, inflation still too low
U.S. unemployment remains too high despite increasing signs of economic strength, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Wednesday, suggesting the central bank would push on with its $600 billion stimulus program. Get the full story »
Bernanke sees growth picking up, but not jobs
The U.S. economy should grow around 3 percent to 4 percent this year, a healthier clip than in 2010 but not enough to bring down unemployment as much as policymakers would like, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday.
“We see the economy strengthening. It has looked better in the last few months. We think a 3 to 4 percent-type of growth number for 2011 seems reasonable,” Bernanke said at an event sponsored by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Get the full story »
Bernanke: It will take years for jobs to come back
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sketched a more optimistic outlook for the economy, but said a $600 billion bond-buying program is needed because it will take up to five more years to bring unemployment back to healthy levels. Get the full story »
U.S. unemployment falls to 9.4% in December
Employers across the country added a modest 103,000 jobs to their payrolls in December, the government said Friday, closing out the year with a bit of whimper instead of the bang that some economists were expecting.
The Labor Department report, however, showed that the unemployment rate dropped dramatically last month to 9.4 percent, from 9.8 percent in November. The drop was likely due at least in part to statistical adjustments, as the government’s count of unemployed workers fell by 556,000 to 14.5 million. Get the full story »
Fed’s Bernanke did not rule out more bond buys
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke did not rule out further purchases of Treasury bonds beyond the $600 billion program announced last month, CBS television reported Bernanke as saying in an interview on the show “60 Minutes”. Get the full story »
CBS: Bernanke to appear on ‘60 Minutes’ Sunday
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will appear on the news program “60 minutes” on Sunday, part of an effort by the central bank to step up its public communications.
The move comes as the Fed’s decision last month to purchase an additional $600 billion caused a flurry of criticism from politicians in Washington, who argue the central bank is playing with fire and courting future inflation. Get the full story »
Bernanke hits back at Fed critics, points at China
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke hit back on Friday at critics of the U.S. central bank’s bond-buying program and issued a thinly veiled attack on China’s policy of keeping its currency on a leash.
Bernanke, facing a chorus of protests about the asset-buying spree from within and outside the central bank, said a more vigorous U.S. economy was essential to fuel the global recovery and dismissed charges he was debasing the dollar. Get the full story »
Bernanke briefs senators on bond buying
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was briefing members of the Senate Banking Committee late Wednesday morning on the central bank’s controversial bond-buying plan, congressional aides said.
The U.S. central bank’s early November decision to launch a second round of large-scale asset purchases has led to a political backlash from Republicans who argue it is setting the ground for inflation and debasing the dollar. Get the full story »
Fed official raises doubts over new Fed program
Fed governor Kevin Warsh, right, with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Aug. 27, 2010. Warsh expressed doubts on Monday about the Fed's $600 billion bond-buying plan. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
A Federal Reserve official with a close working relationship with Chairman Ben Bernanke is expressing skepticism over the Fed’s new $600 billion program to bolster the economy.
Kevin Warsh, a Fed governor, warns that there are “significant risks” associated with the Fed’s bond-buying program, including the potential for triggering inflation.
The Fed’s program, announced last week, is aimed getting Americans to spend more and invigorate the economy by making loans cheaper. But Warsh doubts the program will have “significant” or “durable benefits” for the economy. Despite his reservations, Warsh voted for the program. Get the full story »
Bernanke defends Fed from global critics
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday defended the U.S. central bank’s bond-buying against beggar-thy-neighbor criticism, saying it was “critical” for global stability that the U.S. economy regain its strength.
Doing so, he suggested, would bolster a dollar whose weakness has sparked cries of foul from Bogota to Beijing.
The U.S. central bank’s decision to buy $600 billion of government debt has drawn scathing comments from a host of nations who contend it is generating global instability by ramping up their currencies against the dollar, inflating asset bubbles and stoking inflation in their economies. Get the full story »
Fed set to launch fresh round of bond purchases
The U.S. Federal Reserve opens a two-day meeting on Tuesday that is expected to conclude with a decision to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy to stir the tepid recovery out of its doldrums. Get the full story »
Fed seen buying up to $100 billion in assets a month
Most leading economists expect the Federal Reserve to buy between $80 billion and $100 billion worth of assets per month under a new program to bolster the struggling economy, a Reuters poll found on Wednesday.
Estimates for how long the Fed will print money and how much it will eventually spend varied widely, from $250 billion to as high as $2 trillion.
In a similar Reuters poll of primary dealers conducted on October 8, dealers mostly forecast the total size of the new program at $500 billion to $1.5 trillion. Get the full story »
