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Showing posts from November 1, 2010

Fed set to fire up monetary engine

Business Times - 02 Nov 2010 Fed set to fire up monetary engine By LEON HADAR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT IT IS appropriate that the decision to launch another round of monetary stimulus by the US central bank is going to be made the day after the midterm congressional elections. At a time when the majority of Republican lawmakers as well as many Democrats are opposed to the introduction of even the most modest fiscal stimulus programme, it is Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, and his colleagues on the institution's policy-making body who are being forced to 'do something' to re-energise the sluggish economic recovery. If anything, with the Republicans increasing their strength in the newly elected Congress - thanks in large measure to the support of the fiscally ultra-conservative members of the Tea Party - the chances that US lawmakers would back even a short-term stimulus package are close to zero. Most opinion polls suggest that a majority of Americans hav