This is not a nation that lacks in liquidity. It is a nation that lacks in leadership and certainty.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has made it reasonably clear that he is ready and likely to pursue a new round of quantitative easing.
This is the current nomenclature for printing money. It is a decision that seems to be based on the chairman’s belief that the Fed can help with the unemployment problem in America, and our anemic economic performance, by expanding once again the money floating round the economy.
Bernanke (along with former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson) deserves great praise for saving the nation — and the world for that matter — from what would have been a cataclysmic economic collapse in 2008 and 2009.
He acted with exceptional creativity and went well outside the box, relative to historical actions that the Fed has taken. It was a time when bold action was needed and he delivered.
Now, however, is a different time.
The crisis has abated considerably, at least for us, if not for Europe. The problems we face today involve an economy that is treading water and that has developed the potential of a long term, Japan-like stagnation that could lead to an unacceptable structural unemployment level.
The Fed is obviously grappling with its role in trying to address these problems. It is, by statute, directed to protect the currency and promote full employment. The second part of this mandate is the one that seems to have taken precedence in the last few months and is the reason QE3 is being considered.
Read more: http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/judd-gregg/248365-opinion-no-call-for-a-sugar-high-stimulus-from-the-federal-reserve
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has made it reasonably clear that he is ready and likely to pursue a new round of quantitative easing.
This is the current nomenclature for printing money. It is a decision that seems to be based on the chairman’s belief that the Fed can help with the unemployment problem in America, and our anemic economic performance, by expanding once again the money floating round the economy.
Bernanke (along with former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson) deserves great praise for saving the nation — and the world for that matter — from what would have been a cataclysmic economic collapse in 2008 and 2009.
He acted with exceptional creativity and went well outside the box, relative to historical actions that the Fed has taken. It was a time when bold action was needed and he delivered.
Now, however, is a different time.
The crisis has abated considerably, at least for us, if not for Europe. The problems we face today involve an economy that is treading water and that has developed the potential of a long term, Japan-like stagnation that could lead to an unacceptable structural unemployment level.
The Fed is obviously grappling with its role in trying to address these problems. It is, by statute, directed to protect the currency and promote full employment. The second part of this mandate is the one that seems to have taken precedence in the last few months and is the reason QE3 is being considered.
Read more: http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/judd-gregg/248365-opinion-no-call-for-a-sugar-high-stimulus-from-the-federal-reserve
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