article littered with bullshit here
full article here
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081020/ap_on_bi_ge/financial_meltdown
"If the Congress proceeds with a fiscal package, it should consider including measures to help improve access to credit by consumers, home buyers, businesses and other borrowers," Bernanke said. "Such actions might be particularly effective at promoting economic growth and job creation," he added.
The Fed and the world's other major central banks recently joined forces to slice interest rates, the first coordinated action of that kind in the Fed's history. The central bank meets next on Oct. 28-29 and many economists believe Fed
policymakers will again lower its key rate — now at 1.50 percent — to brace the wobbly economy.
HOW MUCH LOWER CAN THEY GO????
Over time, "stimulus provided by monetary policy" along with the eventual stabilization in housing markets and improvements in credit markets will help the economy get back on firm footing, Bernanke said.
Dropping rates might induce consumers and businesses to boost their spending, an
important ingredient to energize overall economic activity.SPEND IT ALL BABY, AT SOME POINT WILL THE AMERICAN "CONSUMER" STOP?
So far, though, a string of drastic actions by the Fed and the Bush administration has yet to turn around a bunker mentality. Banks fear lending money to each other and to their customers. Businesses are reluctant to hire and boost capital investments. Consumers have hunkered down. All the economy's problems are feeding off each other, creating a vicious cycle that Washington policymakers are finding difficult to break.
One-third of Americans are worried about losing their jobs, half fret they will be unable to keep up with mortgage and credit card payments, and seven in 10 are anxious that their stocks and retirement investments are losing value, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll of likely voters released Monday.
Unemployment could hit 7.5 percent or higher by next year
NOTE: MASSAGED GOVERNMENT NUMBER. Many analysts predict the economy will shrink later this year and early next year, meeting the classic definition of a recession
OH THATS RIGHT WE ARENT IN A RECESSION..?. Some believe the economy already jolted into reverse during the July-to-September quarter.
Last week, the Treasury Department announced it would inject up to $250 billion in U.S. banks in return for partial ownership, something that hasn't been done since the Great Depression. The government hopes banks will use the capital infusions to rebuild their reserves and bolster lending to customers.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Monday that government purchases of stock in banks represent an
investment that should eventually make money for the taxpayer. CAN I GET MY CHECK FOR THAT KING HENRY?
