Wow... he's finally admitted that they'll buy their own debt and debase the currency.... nice for foreign countries holding treasuries hey......
Fixing credit markets necessary before economy can recover By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch Last update: 1:58 p.m. EST Dec. 1, 2008Comments: 189WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates just about as far as they can go, but the U.S. central bank still has plenty of available firepower it could deploy to restore financial markets to normal, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday. The Fed could buy Treasury notes and bonds or agency bonds in a bid to drive yields lower and "spur aggregate demand," Bernanke said. Many analysts refer to such a policy as "quantitative easing," because the Fed would target a specific amount of money to flood into the economy. The U.S. economy is under "considerable stress," Bernanke said, and is likely to remain weak for some time. The economy "downshifted further" after the financial crisis of September, he said. Read his full remarks.
