“Much less robust than hoped for”. This is the merciless comment of the president of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, speaking to the American Congress of the growth of the US economy in the last year. Bernanke refers above all to the first part of the year, while on the current moment he seems slightly more optimistic: "probably the recovery in this final part of the year will be faster".
However, there are two positive notes: inflation "is starting to slow down" and it is "unlikely" that the acceleration in prices recorded in the first half will become structural. Therefore, according to Bernanke, the inflation expectations are “stable”. However, the growth of the labor market will be "slow".
The president of the TRF also mentioned thenegative influence of the European crisis on the American economy, for which it is "a risk that continues". And in particular, on the Greek default risk weighing on the markets, he said: "is a significant source of stress." Bernanke asked Congress directly about act on four “key points” in addition to fiscal policy: "the labor market, housing, foreign trade and taxation".
"Monetary policy is a powerful tool but it is not a panacea for the problems currently facing the US economy," Bernanke said. However he also wanted to add that the Fed "ready to do more to stimulate a more decisive restart of the economy". The Federal Reserve's next economic forecasts will come in early November.
