Word: feds
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...former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board famously described his job as "taking the punch bowl away just when the party is getting good." Current Fed chief Ben Bernanke wishes it were so. With stock markets around the world reeling, and with a deep housing slump in the United States crippling growth in the world's largest economy, Bernanke's Fed is now frantically ladling the punch out - even though almost everyone already has a brutal hangover. The Fed's surprise January 22nd rate cut - it slashed its key interest rate three quarters of a percentage point, and signaled that...
...Asia's markets rebounded smartly on Wednesday, after the Fed's move, but the fact remained that investors worldwide were finally absorbing an unavoidable truth: the United States, still the biggest market for the world's exports, appears to be in real economic trouble. Most economists now believe the U.S. is either already - or soon will be - in its first recession since 2001, and that this one could be a doozy. "The asset bubbles underpinning the US economy have started to unwind the other way," says Stephen Roach, Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia. "This recession was triggered by the bursting...
...long? Economists at Morgan Stanley believe the Fed rate cuts - past and future - are part of what it calls the "Great Global Monetary Easing of 2008," which will begin to spur a new round of worldwide growth next year. But getting from here to there is going to be painful. Demand for everything from iron ore mined in western Australia to toys manufactured in southeastern China is already slowing, because for the first time in decade, the "key driver of the global economy, the U.S. consumer, seems to have finally thrown in the towel," says Xie. If that's true...
...Federal Reserve Board cut the federal funds rate 75 basis points, to 3.50%, "in view of a weakening of the economic outlook and increasing downside risks to growth," the Board said in a statement. It was the first time since the markets reopened after Sept. 11, 2001, that the Fed had changed the federal funds rate between scheduled meetings. The move buoyed stocks in Europe, and added to speculation that the European Central Bank and the Bank of England would also cut rates in an attempt to stave off a slowdown. In morning trading in Europe, though, stocks fell. Britain...
...response to the rising chances of recession this year, President Bush is readying a $150 billion stimulus package that will include tax rebate checks to a large swath of American taxpayers. And while election year politics rarely produce bipartisan progress, with the economy sputtering and even the staid Fed chief Ben Bernanke supporting the idea of an immediate cash infusion, Bush's arch-enemies on the Hill are backing his proposal...