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NEWS ABOUT: Ben Bernanke

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More About: financial crisis • Federal Reserve • bailout • Henry Paulson • Barack Obama • interest rate cut • interest rate • credit crisis • credit market • economic stimulus package • federal funds rate • housing crisis • endorsement • prime rate • housing bubble • Larry Summers • subprime crisis • S&P 500 • money-market funds • Wall Street bailout • Sheila Bair • President Obama • foreclosures • European Central Bank • deflation

Bernanke's Job Security Hardly Assured

Fed chief's term is up in 2010, and with Summers in play, another is no certainty

(Newser) - Economists give Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke a passing grade for his efforts to fight the nation’s financial crisis, but that doesn’t guarantee he’ll keep his job when his appointment expires in 2010, reports the Wall Street Journal. President-elect Barack Obama may have a Fed-chief-in-waiting in Lawrence... More »

Fears of Deflation Spook Economists

With oil below $50 and sales everywhere, economists seek solutions

(Newser) - Lower prices may sound like a good thing, but economists say sustained deflation poses a serious threat to any turnaround, the Washington Post reports. Consumer prices are tanking on everything from clothes to steel, which feeds a cycle: People stop buying as they hold out for better sales, and stores... More »

Paulson, Bernanke Defend Bailout Before House

Money for Detroit isn't the 'purpose' of the bailout: Paulson

(AP) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Congress today he opposes tapping a $700 billion taxpayer-funded bailout pool to help struggling US automakers. Paulson and Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke were on Capitol Hill defending their management of the bailout program, just a week after the Bush administration abandoned the original strategy... More »

Banks Boost Interest Rates to Lure Deposits

'Price war' increases pressure on profit margins, loan funds

(Newser) - Banks are boosting interest rates on deposits in an effort to increase the supply of cash available for lending, resulting in what one consultant calls a "national price war," the Wall Street Journal reports. Many banks are pinched between the desire to build up deposits and the shrinking... More »

Fed Won't Say Where $2T in Loans Went

Money is in addition to $700B Wall St. bailout; collateral unclear, too

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve has lent more than $2 trillion to financial institutions under programs without congressional oversight—and will not disclose to whom or under what terms, Bloomberg reports. The loans are separate from the $700 billion congressionally approved bailout package. Investors and citizens are concerned that the collateral given... More »

Prez Obama to Work With Key Bush Holdovers

Bernanke, Mullen, FBI's Mueller will retain power

(Newser) - As he addresses the most serious problems that face the country, Barack Obama will have to work with several key Bush appointees whose tenure will last a year or two into his administration, the Washington Post reports. But experts say dealing with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Joint Chiefs head Michael... More »

'Race to Zero' Under Way as Central Banks Cut Rates

With Fed at 1% and European, Asian banks trimming, no-interest loans not far off, perhaps

(Newser) - Interest rates around the world are falling, with no end in sight as central banks hack away at obstacles to lending and try to jump-start their economies, Bloomberg reports. With the US rate at 1%, the Bank of England yesterday cut its key figure to 3%, the lowest since 1955,... More »

Think 1% Is Low? He Could Go to Zero

Analysts predict Japan-style cuts in interest rates

(Newser) - Yesterday Ben Bernanke cut the federal funds rate to an ectomorphic 1%—but the Fed might not be done yet. More and more analysts are predicting that the central bank will have to cut rates all the way to zero if it wants to get the economy moving again. But... More »

Fed Cuts Rate Half-Point to 1%

1% is lowest mark since 2004 as Bernanke tries to combat slowdown

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve surprised no one today, cutting interest rates by half a point, to 1%—as investors widely predicted he would, AP reports. “The pace of economic activity appears to have slowed markedly, owing importantly to a decline in consumer expenditures,” the Fed said in a statement,... More »

Fed Rate Cut to 1% Expected

With Inflation fears fading, 'the issue now is how bad the recession will be'

(Newser) - Worries about inflation are taking a backseat to recession fears as the Federal Reserve today is likely to lower its benchmark rate another half-point to 1%, with the possibility it could go to zero by June if the economy doesn’t rebound, reports Bloomberg. “The issue now is how... More »

Fed Pledges $600B to Keep Money-Market Funds Afloat

Will partner with JPMorgan, lend money to help cover redemptions

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve today unveiled a $600 billion program to finance the purchase of assets from money-market mutual funds, Bloomberg reports. JPMorgan will oversee five special units, which will use money borrowed from the Fed to buy CDs, bank notes, and commercial paper nearing maturity. The program is the Fed’... More »

Bernanke All But Endorsed Obama: Journal Editors

Fed chief's support for stimulus conformed to Dem platform

(Newser) - The Fed once shunned politics, but chairman Ben Bernanke’s support for a second economic stimulus bill yesterday amounts to an endorsement of Barack Obama, write the outraged editors of the Wall Street Journal. By saying a stimulus would be "well targeted," despite GOP and White House resistance,... More »

Stocks Rally, Clearing 9,000

Bernanke urges more fiscal stimulus

(Newser) - Stocks extended earlier gains with a late-session rally today as Ben Bernanke voiced support for a new fiscal stimulus package and a key indicator showed a loosening in the flow of credit, MarketWatch reports. The Dow rose 413.21 to 9,265.43, the first time it has closed over... More »

Bernanke Backs New Stimulus

But Fed chief says new measure must include access to credit

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke gave his blessing to a new economic stimulus package today, the New York Times reports, saying the slowdown warrants another boost but hedging his approval with conditions that would discourage the sort of package Democrats are pushing. “If the Congress proceeds with a fiscal package, it should... More »

Homeowners Need Bailout, Too: FDIC Chief

Regulator clashes with Paulson, Bernanke over relief for lenders

(Newser) - The FDIC chief is blasting the White House and Congress for focusing the $700 billion bailout on financial institutions and not giving homeowners facing foreclosure more help, reports the Wall Street Journal. Sheila Bair, a Bush appointee, says the government’s insistence that homeowners not profit from its help—while... More »

Dow Off 500; Fed Can't Calm Investors

Recession fears weigh more heavily amid ugly data

(Newser) - Poor data and continued pessimism over the state of the US economy had the Dow down around 500 points as today’s session entered the final hours, MarketWatch reports, with hints of further interest-rate cuts from Fed chief Ben Bernanke doing nothing to boost confidence. The Dow dipped below the... More »

Bernanke: Stage Set for Recovery

Fear not, investors, Fed chairman insists

(Newser) - Americans face a historic financial crisis, but they needn’t worry because policy makers have responded in time, writes Ben Bernanke in today’s Wall Street Journal. “History teaches us that government engagement in times of severe financial crisis often arrives very late,” Bernanke says. “Fortunately, that... More »

Global Economy Needs Shelter From the Storm

Think of it as a bankruptcy; with help, it can recover and thrive

(Newser) - The global economy is in such chaos that it needs the equivalent of bankruptcy protection, David Ignatius writes in the Washington Post. "Bankruptcy, if properly managed, is a workout process that provides a pathway back to solvency," he argues. "Companies often reemerge from bankruptcy healthier than before;... More »

Yes, It's Bad, But the Depression It Ain't

Economist sees differences and remains optimistic

(Newser) - The economic news out of Wall Street and Washington is scary and shocking, but there's no reason to use the "D" word anytime soon, Jay Hancock writes in the Baltimore Sun. He talks with economic historian and professor Louis Galambos, who remains guardedly optimistic about the "core of... More »

It Hasn't Been This Bad Since 1937

Stocks stuck in a 'downward spiral of fear;' no end in sight

(Newser) - With investors unconvinced the government’s $700 billion bailout or the Fed’s new plan to buy commercial paper will thaw frozen credit markets, markets remained trapped in “a downward spiral of fear,” reports BusinessWeek. The Dow’s 29% loss this year is its worst since 1937’s... More »

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