The public relies heavily on what comes out of Ben Bernanke's mouth. In a way, he has significant power. If today's report is positive, the stock markets increase slightly, and John Doe walks home from work with a bounce in his step. But this has the reverse effect as well, negative news sends everything downward, such as putting faith in world currency, and not the American dollar. Yet any talk is becoming cautious. On Tuesday, Bernanke told Congress that this year the economy will begin to recovery, yet even when that starts, things will not be as good as they once were. It will be a slow recovery, including more job losses. Even with the tax cuts that are said to come with Obama's stimulus package, rising unemployment and home values plummetting will not free many families up to spend as they wish. The economy celebrated (and by celebrated, I mean the negative version of celebrate) the worst 6 month performance since the late 50's. Banks are going to be required to "develop "comprehensive capital plans for esablishing the required buffers" to protect against losses that may occur in the futue. The economy is expected to bottom out before this slow but steady recovery begins, but don't worry, Ben has it under control.
-CH
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