Fed Keeps Rates Low; Bernanke to Face Media

Ben Bernanke will host the Fed's first news conference on policy
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 27, 2011 12:10 PM CDT
Fed Keeps Rates Low; Bernanke to Face Media
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, left, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in a file photo.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

No surprises from the Fed today: Rates are staying low, and its $600 billion bond-buying program remains on track to end in June, reports MarketWatch. The Fed sees the economic recovery moving at a "moderate pace" and downplayed the risks of inflation. Far more interesting will be Ben Bernanke's first-ever press conference at 2:15pm EST to explain the Fed rationale.

David Leonhardt at the New York Times says business reporters "shouldn’t let him get away with the evasions and half-answers that members of Congress too often allow Fed chairmen during their appearances on Capitol Hill." A big one to ask: "Why has Mr. Bernanke decided to accept widespread unemployment for years on end, even though he believes he has the power to reduce it?" (More Federal Reserve stories.)

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