Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says that although the economy is recovering, economic growth will be moderate and increase very slowly into 2010. (0:24)

 

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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says the recession is over but its effects will still be felt in terms of job security and wages. (0:20)

 

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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that regulatory problems were a large part of the world-wide financial meltdown and that he believes reform is necessary. (0:43)

 

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Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced the end of the recession Tuesday, but conceded that the U.S. will continue to feel its effects.

“From a technical perspective, the recession is very likely over at this point,” he said. “[But] it is still going to feel like a very weak economy for some time,” said Bernanke during a speech at the Brookings Institute.

Bernanke warned that though the U.S. is leaving the recession behind, unemployment and low wages will continue to take their toll. He added that markets will remain weak through 2010, because economic growth will not be strong enough to create jobs.

“Unemployment will be slow to come down,” he said. “It will come down, but it may take some time.”

The bankruptcy of the Lehman Brothers occured exactly a year before Bernanke’s speech on Tuesday, marking the worst phase of the global financial crisis.

Bernanke said regulatory reform is needed to ensure that a crisis such as this does not reoccur.

“This has just been too big of a calamity and too serious of a problem.”

President Barack Obama delivered a similar message during a street to New York’s financial community Monday.

While there has been some debate among policymakers over whether effective regulatory reform can make it through Congress, Bernanke remarked Tuesday that he was hopeful.

“I remain pretty optimistic that… reform will be forthcoming,” Bernanke said.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) says that the American economy is still not where it should be, but states that Congress has made substantial progress. (0:17)

 

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Bill Kovacs, Senior Vice President of the Environment, Technology, and Regulatory Division at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, warns that the Waxman-Markey bill will promote regulatory chaos, foster lawsuits, harm the economy, and ultimately do nothing to reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere. (0:16)

 

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By Courtney Costello – Talk Radio News Service

The White House Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag said during a conference call on Thursday that current health care costs are crowding out important domestic initiatives.

Orszag listed three elements that would help major manufacturers and major businesses prevent their health care costs from growing over time. He suggested a digitized health care system, more information on what works and what does not work, and better incentives for providers. He also explained the Administration’s development of an Independent Medicare Advisory Council.

“We’re putting forward this, what we’re calling the IMAC, Independent Medicare Advisory Council, so that policy can more easily keep up with changes in the health system and we can tweak and refine changes in the payment system overtime as we’re learning what works and what doesn’t with regard to that aspect of health care,” said Orszag.

The White House has proposed that 750 billion to 1 trillion dollars be spent over the next ten years to provide insurance to those who aren’t covered and to those who cannot afford their current care, said Orzag.

In addition to separate Medicare and Medicaid revenue proposals that would net close to 600 billion dollars, Orszag said the White House has proposed limiting itemized deductions, the rate at which high income tax payers can itemize the deductions they claim on their tax returns, for wealthy Americans.

He argued that this proposal would provide an additional 300 billion dollars or more to cover the cost of reform.

By Mariko Lamb, Talk Radio News Service

Assistant Treasury Secretary for Financial Stability Herbert Allison, Jr. said that the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) has been “key to stabilizing the financial system and preventing greater deterioration in the availability of credit,” in his testimony to the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Wednesday.

“There’s also signs that the economy is beginning to mend,” he said. Indications of economic stabilization include an increase in the issuance of corporate debt, increase in consumer confidence, and higher housing starts.

Despite these improvements, “Our financial system and our economy remain vulnerable,” he said, as unemployment and home foreclosures remain high and strains in the commercial real estate market continue to build. “This is why Treasury must remain vigilant and press ahead with our financial stabilization efforts,” he said.

Allison attempted to assure members of the subcommittee that taxpayers can put their trust in the Treasury, and that the agency is dedicated to high standards of transparency.

“We feel a great obligation as responsible stewards of their money,” he said, assuring those at the hearing that the Treasury is committing every effort to ensuring an ample return for taxpayers.

“I will regularly update Congress on our progress. We have productive, working relationships with our four oversight bodies–Special Inspector General of the TARP, Government Accountability Office, Congressional Oversight Panel, and Financial Stability Oversight Board,” he said.

Information on lending activities of Treasury-invested banks can be found at www.financialstability.gov.

By Courtney Ann Jackson- Talk Radio News Service

Financial conditions are strained but have improved, according to the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress.

“Today, financial conditions remained stressed, and many households and businesses are finding credit difficult to obtain. Nevertheless, on net, the past few months have seen some notable improvements,” Bernanke said Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Bernanke cited the narrowing spread of interest rates in short-term money markets, adding that equity prices are nearly beginning to recover to their levels from the end of last year. Bernanke also noted that the banks have raised “significant amounts of new capital.”

According to the Chairman, many of these improvements are due, in part, to policy actions by the Federal Reserve to encourage the flow of credit.

“Some banks are still short of capital, other banks are concerned about future losses, they’re concerned about the weakness in the economy and the weakness of potential borrowers,” said Bernanke. “Banks should be making loans to credit-worthy borrowers. It’s in their interest, the bank’s interest, as well as the interest of the economy and we’re working with banks to make sure they do that.”

During questioning, Bernanke explained to Committee members that consumer protection, transparency, and accountability continued to be priorities for the Federal Reserve.

U.S. economic recovery should be more export-oriented, environmentally oriented, bio and software-engineering oriented, and middle-class oriented, said Lawrence Summers, Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, Friday. (0:28)

 

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