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Politics : The Solyndra Scandal -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: joseffy who wrote (15)	9/29/2011 1:50:48 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 1400

Bernanke calls unemployment a ‘national crisis’ Also calls from “strong” housing policies Stories You Might Like You might like: Hackers release personal info on Blankfein Tough Going for Gold, and It's Looking… Europe stocks cautious ahead of German vote MHI and MC to Collaborate with Indonesia in… By Greg Robb, MarketWatch WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The nation’s weak labor market was “a national crisis” that required attention from the White House and Congress, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday. “We’ve had close to 10% unemployment now for a number of years, and of the people who are unemployed, about 45% have been unemployed for six months or more. This is unheard of,” Bernanke said in a question-and-answer session following a speech in Cleveland. He called for policies “that could help them find work, train for work and retain their skills.” THE FED \| Expanded Fed coverage Click to Play Analysis of the Fed's rate decision Mean Street host Evan Newmark welcomes WSJ reporters Jon Hilsenrath and Thorold Barker to discuss the Fed decision process and to analyze the move to keep the federal funds rate unchanged. Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images It's The Twist The Fed decided on Wednesday to start a new program to twist the yield curve by swapping $400 billion of short-term debt with longer-term maturities. The Fed said it acted in light of a worsening global outlook. There were three dissents from the move. • NY Fed outlines what maturities it will buy • Text of Federal Reserve rate decision CALENDARS AND COLUMNS • U.S. economic calendar \| Global calendar • Market Snapshot \| Bond Report \| Currencies • Sign up for breaking-news alerts by email /conga/story/misc/fed.html 169031 Bernanke said that Fed’s interest rate moves were not a panacea for the economy. Bernanke urged policy makers to consider “strong housing policies to help the housing market recover.” Better housing policies would “clearly be very useful,” and would allow the low mortgage rates stemming from easy Fed policy to have more effect and help the economy recover. Except for two months early this year, the unemployment rate has been stuck above 9% almost every month since May 2009. It peaked at 10.1% in October 2009. Bernanke’s dire view of the unemployment situation may be what motivated him to take the another innovative step last week to try to boost the economy. Despite three dissents on its interest-rate setting board, the Fed decided to start a program to twist the yield curve by swapping shorter-maturity government securities for longer-dated ones. Read Fed decides on $400 billion bond swap. Bernanke did not spell out what he wants done about unemployment and housing. The topic of his prepared remarks was about gleaning policy lessons from the recent strong growth seen in emerging markets. But recently, top Fed officials have endorsed the outlines of a plan that would allow homeowners who owe more than their homes are worth to refinance their mortgages. Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren on Wednesday said such a plan would give a boost to consumer demand. “Clearly getting more money into the hands of homeowners who would spend it could help to fuel GDP growth,” he said. Plans to expand existing refinancing program being considered by the White House but have been slowed down by regulatory hurdles. Rosengren also backed another proposal that would reduce the number of vacant homes by allowing investors to convert foreclosed homes into rental properties. Bernanke’s call for action on the labor market might end up helping President Barack Obama’s jobs plan, a mix of tax cuts for workers and businesses and more spending on schools and roads. Republicans have indicated that they might pick and pass some elements of Obama’s proposal. Read Congress may take only tax cuts from Obama plan. It may be harder for Congressional Republicans to justify trimming the package given Bernanke’s strong words.