Troubled economy in search of a solution
Business Times - 31 Aug 2011
Troubled economy in search of a solution
Despite what was said at Jackson Hole, markets are still waiting for reassuring messages
By LEON HADAR
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
IN THE aftermath of the decision by Standard & Poor's (S&P) to downgrade the US credit rating, Wall Street has been waiting for Washington - whether it's the White House or Congress or the Federal Reserve - to do something, or at least say something that would reassure the markets that the economy was getting better. At the very least, they wanted to be told the economy would be getting better in the not-so-distant future.
So it was not surprising that Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's speech delivered last Friday at the policy conference held at Jackson Hole, Wyoming was described by pundits as one of those 'much-anticipated' events.
Against the backdrop of the political and legislative stalemate in Washington that has made it close to impossi...