Events Calendar
In This Section
After 30 years at the helm of Akron Children's, Considine still looks to future
New version of Mozilla Thunderbird landing soon
SCORE offers wide variety of workshops
About Matsos Greek Dressing & Marinade
All-in-one units jolt desktop computer sales
Does it work? Test team returns to try out new products advertised on television
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Does it work? Test team returns to try out new products advertised on television
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Sunday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns sick after sick loss in Detroit
Akron Zips:
Zips advance to Sweet Sixteen
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Post-game defensive quotes
Kent State Sports:
Kent State defeats Rochester College, 63-44
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – You are All Wrong About Jobs, or the Lack of Jobs, Being the Reason People Do Not Live in NEO
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
By Jeannine Aversa
Associated Press
POSTED: 08:50 a.m. EST, Jan 13, 2009
WASHINGTON: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said today the stimulus package being crafted by President-elect Barack Obama and Congress could provide a ''significant boost'' to the sinking economy. But he warned that such a recovery won't last unless other steps are taken to stabilize the shaky financial system.
Although Bernanke has previously endorsed the notion for a fresh round of government stimulus to lift the country out of a recession, it marked the first time the Fed chief has referenced the roughly $800 billion recovery plan now being worked on by Obama, who takes office next week. Obama envisions a blend of tax cuts and increased government spending, including on big public works projects, to make up the stimulus plan.
Bernanke, who didn't weigh in on the details of the evolving package, made clear that such a recovery plan was needed as part of a broader, multi-pronged government response to combat the worst financial crisis to hit the U.S. and the global economy since the 1930s.
''The incoming administration and the Congress are currently discussing a substantial fiscal package that, if enacted, could provide a significant boost to economic activity,'' Bernanke said in a speech to the London School of Economics.
''In my view, however, fiscal actions are unlikely to promote a lasting recovery unless they are accompanied by strong measures to further stabilize and strengthen the financial system,'' he warned. ''History demonstrates conclusively that a modern economy cannot grow if its financial system is not operating effectively.''
To help on that front, the Fed is loaning out billions to financial companies and buying mounds of companies' debt to help bust through the debilitating credit clog. And the Treasury Department is overseeing a $700 financial bailout program that has pledged to inject $250 billion into banks in return for partial government ownership. Some money from the bailout pot also is being used to guarantee against possible losses from risky assets held by Citigroup Inc.
Bernanke said ''more capital injections and guarantees may become necessary'' to stabilize financial markets and spur more lending. If Obama's incoming Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner decides to remove toxic assets from financial institutions' balance sheets the original but abandoned strategy under the $700 billion bailout Bernanke suggested some options to do that.
Public purchases of the troubled assets are one way to go, he said. Another option is to provide asset guarantees under which the government would agree to absorb presumably in exchange for warrants or some other form of compensation part of the prospective losses on specified portfolios of rotten assets held by banks. Yet another approach would be to set up and capitalize so-called ''bad banks,'' which would buy assets from the financial institutions in exchange for cash and equity in the bad bank.
WASHINGTON: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said today the stimulus package being crafted by President-elect Barack Obama and Congress could provide a ''significant boost'' to the sinking economy. But he warned that such a recovery won't last unless other steps are taken to stabilize the shaky financial system.
Although Bernanke has previously endorsed the notion for a fresh round of government stimulus to lift the country out of a recession, it marked the first time the Fed chief has referenced the roughly $800 billion recovery plan now being worked on by Obama, who takes office next week. Obama envisions a blend of tax cuts and increased government spending, including on big public works projects, to make up the stimulus plan.
Bernanke, who didn't weigh in on the details of the evolving package, made clear that such a recovery plan was needed as part of a broader, multi-pronged government response to combat the worst financial crisis to hit the U.S. and the global economy since the 1930s.
''The incoming administration and the Congress are currently discussing a substantial fiscal package that, if enacted, could provide a significant boost to economic activity,'' Bernanke said in a speech to the London School of Economics.
''In my view, however, fiscal actions are unlikely to promote a lasting recovery unless they are accompanied by strong measures to further stabilize and strengthen the financial system,'' he warned. ''History demonstrates conclusively that a modern economy cannot grow if its financial system is not operating effectively.''
To help on that front, the Fed is loaning out billions to financial companies and buying mounds of companies' debt to help bust through the debilitating credit clog. And the Treasury Department is overseeing a $700 financial bailout program that has pledged to inject $250 billion into banks in return for partial government ownership. Some money from the bailout pot also is being used to guarantee against possible losses from risky assets held by Citigroup Inc.
Bernanke said ''more capital injections and guarantees may become necessary'' to stabilize financial markets and spur more lending. If Obama's incoming Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner decides to remove toxic assets from financial institutions' balance sheets the original but abandoned strategy under the $700 billion bailout Bernanke suggested some options to do that.
Public purchases of the troubled assets are one way to go, he said. Another option is to provide asset guarantees under which the government would agree to absorb presumably in exchange for warrants or some other form of compensation part of the prospective losses on specified portfolios of rotten assets held by banks. Yet another approach would be to set up and capitalize so-called ''bad banks,'' which would buy assets from the financial institutions in exchange for cash and equity in the bad bank.
Sounds like the same B.S. that we have been listening to since the eighties. Nothing is going to change for the better as a whole. They will give us a little here and then take back more from over there. LOL
Thanks, economist DAG.
