Bernanke Signals New Rate Cuts

Investors might be barking up the wrong tree

(NEWSER) - Stocks have been shooting up this week on speculation that Ben Bernanke will announce another round of quantitative easing to prop up the economy in his speech Friday at Jackson Hole. But investors had better hold their horses, Neil Irwin of the Washington Post reports, because “the appetite within the Fed for another big, splashy round of so-called QE3 is low,” and they want more evidence before making their next move. More»

Alaskan slams 'quantitative easing' policy

(NEWSER) - Chinese and German finance chiefs enraged by Fed chief Ben Bernanke's plans to inject $600 billion into the economy by buying Treasury bonds have found a somewhat unlikely ally: Sarah Palin. The Alaskan slammed the "quantitative easing" policy in a speech to a trade group yesterday, using terminology foreign to her typical "just us folks" speeches. "If it doesn’t work, what do we do then? Print even more money? What’s the end game here? Where will all this money printing on an unprecedented scale take us?" she asked, according to prepared remarks obtained by National Review Online. More»

Felix Salmon isn't thrilled with Fed chief's op-ed

(NEWSER) - The Fed's controversial plan to buy $600 billion worth of Treasuries to stimulate growth has brought the phrase "quantitative easing" out from the obscurity of financial blogs. Will it work? Two columns today on the subject from Ben Bernanke himself in the Washington Post and Felix Salmon at Reuters :

• Bernanke: The Fed chief offers three examples of how the move will help: It will lower mortgage rates and thus help prospective homebuyers or those who want to refinance; it will encourage business investment by lowering corporate bond rates; and it will raise stock prices, which will in turn boost consumer wealth, confidence, and spending "in a virtuous circle."

Central bank expected to tackle deflation danger

(NEWSER) - The Federal Reserve meets today to decide what medicine the wheezing American economy needs, and world markets will be keenly watching for the outcome. With no new stimulus spending from Congress likely, the central bank is the only body poised to react to signs that the recovery is running out of steam. Many economists expect the Fed will switch focus from preventing inflation to heading off deflation, the New York Times reports. More»

For those who can't remember 1981, rates are headed up

(NEWSER) - There's a generation of consumers out there that can't fathom 8% interest, much less 1981's peak of 18.2%, but the days of free or cheap money are coming to a rapid close. With national debt ballooning, inflation looming, and government props that suppressed interest rates ending, the cost of credit is headed for a long upward climb, reports the New York Times . More»