This morning the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke remarked on the economy from the yearly Fed meeting which was being held in Jackson Hole Wyoming. Here is the jist/shortened version of what he said (because economists have a nack for making things difficult to understand and dragging out conversations). He said:
- the economic trajectory going forward is currently fragile and weak
- that despite the uncertainties, there are reasons to expect an aceleration in economic growth in the coming months
- that he and the other members of the Fed will remain vigilant in addressing inflation (the rise in the costs of good and services - gas, bread, milk, etc)
- that he will maintain the policy of holding interest rates at zero for the next 2 years
- that the Federal Reserve remains open to taking additonal monetary policy actions to promote economic growth
- that they will meet again in September to consider whether more policy initiatives are necessary to sustain and spur the U.S. economy
All in all, his remarks were somewhat vague, and because of that the markets have had more moves than a breakdancer (the market was down 200 points earlier, up 100 points, down 75 points, and now currently up 65 points).
