How’s the economy doing? According to Ben Bernanke, pretty well… and it’s because of him. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, the Federal Reserve Chairman explains ever-so-humbly how “the Fed saved the economy.” In the piece (which comes on the heels of his book release), Bernanke points to the decreasing unemployment rate and a moderate inflation rate as signs that our economy is reasonably healthy again.
On unemployment, Bernanke says that the 5.1% rate implies that the labor market is “close to normal” even if there is still some distance to go. Meanwhile, he jabs critics who insisted that his Fed policy would lead to hyperinflation by noting that the current inflation rate (which is hovering around 1.5%) is actually under the Fed’s goal of 2%.
Bernake also compares the seeming success of his policies to those of struggling Europe and suggests that others are now coming around to his way of thinking. Once again he enjoys taking shots as his doubters saying, “In November 2010, when the Fed undertook its second round of quantitative easing, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble reportedly called the action ‘clueless.’ At the time, the unemployment rates in Europe and the U.S. were 10.2% and 9.4%, respectively. Today the U.S. jobless rate is close to 5%, while the European rate has risen to 10.9%.”
Aside from boasting and I-told-you-sos, Bernake’s article reflects on the role of the Federal Reserve, saying “What the Fed can do is two things: First, by mitigating recessions, monetary policy can try to ensure that the economy makes full use of its resources, especially the workforce.” With that, Bernake essentially hands the ball off to Congress and others since “monetary policy can no longer be the only game in town. ” He adds, “As a country, we need to do more to improve worker skills, foster capital investment and support research and development… New efforts both inside and outside government will be essential to sustaining U.S. growth.”
While few would argue that the U.S. economy isn’t in a better place than it was in recent years, it’s interesting to hear Bernanke’s point of view on what’s been done and what still needs to be done. His article really highlights how no one agency, act, or policy can fully fix the problems the economy was/is facing. Perhaps Bernanke’s Fed did “save the economy” but it will take the work of many others to fully resuscitate it.
I'm a small town guy living in Los Angeles looking to make solid financial decisions. I write for a number of finance websites, including HuffingtonPost and Business2Community. I founded DyerNews.com in 2015 to focus on personal finance and the emerging FinTech markets.
With demand for travel continuing to rise, the ridesharing app Uber has announced a feature to help both travelers and commuters to get to their destinations while saving money. After previously pausing its UberPool service option during the pandemic, Uber is now rolling out a replacement called UberX Share. At this time, the new option is available to riders in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Phoenix, San...
In recent months, "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) platforms have exploded in popularity. What's more, with Apple jumping into the space, the practice is likely to continue growing despite some concerns in regards to how BNPL services impact consumers' personal finances. With that in mind, one FinTech has just revealed its alternative: a payment-splitting platform for online retail. Today, Kasheesh exited stealth mode to announce the launch of its unique...
Those looking to add some extra cash back into their pocket will soon have a new option. This week, the popular credit monitoring site Credit Karma announced a new feature for its Credit Karma Money customers. Now, debit cardholders will be able to earn cashback when making purchases from select retailers. According to the site, the list of eligible retailers includes national chains, such as Adidas and Shake Shack, as...
Put simply, the value proposition of Pay with GasBuddy is that you can use a special card that's accepted at most gas stations in order to save a few cents off of every gallon of gas you buy. That sounds good — almost too good, if you think like me.
Over the past few months, I've been a bit torn. While I love saving money and keeping costs down, the convenience of grocery delivery has proven too powerful for me to resist. Now one of my favorite discount grocery stores is rolling out a better option with the introduction of Aldi Curbside Pickup. Yet, the question still remains: is this option actually worth it?
Over the past few years, the free credit score site Credit Karma has expanded into other aspects of finance. This includes offering an unclaimed funds finder as well as a free tax filing platform— which it recently announced would be sold off to Block Inc (formerly Square) when Intuit's purchase of Credit Karma is completed. Now, Credit Karma is rolling out a free checking account in the form of Credit...
A few short weeks ago, I shared my review of an app called Current Rewards that allows you to earn gift cards and cash just for listening to music (although you'll need to do a bit more if you want to really earn points). As I noted in that review, I was first made aware of the app's existence thanks to an ad I saw for the Mode Phone. Well,...
First the bad news: considering all the major data breaches that have hit retailers, websites, and freaking credit bureaus alike, there’s a very strong chance your personal info has been compromised at some point. Luckily, in addition to steps you can take, such as freezing your credit reports to prevent criminals from using this data, there are a growing number of tools you can use to foil thieves in the...
Comments are closed.