Amidst much anticipation, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday, painted a grim forecast of the nation’s economic recovery, while suggesting that fiscal policy makers need to do more to support the economy and address long-run deficits.
While not ruling out intervention by the Fed, Bernanke labeled the current economic climate as “far from satisfactory,” citing the high unemployment rate which is 2 percentage points above what the Fed considers “normal” and low labor utilization.
But Bernanke is not yet ready to step in. He noted that the Fed’s monetary policies – quantitative easing – can only do so much, and that Congress wasn’t doing enough to help the economy.
