

WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) -- Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke won over critics with unprecedented policy moves made in March, economists say.
Not every economist is enamored with the Fed's moves to open lending beyond the traditional territory of commercial banks or with the seven lending rate cuts made since September, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
But, the March policy moves, now referred to inside the Fed as the Bernanke Doctrine, have included "a really head-spinning range of unprecedented and bold actions," Columbia Business School professor of finance Charles Calomiris told the Times.
"That's exactly as it should be," he said.
The Bush-appointee has even impressed some Democrats.
"He's made believers out of people who were just not sure about him before," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who chairs the Joint Economic Committee. Others say the series of lending rate cuts, dropping bank rates from 5.75 percent to 2 percent, have risked pushing inflation and weakening the dollar.
"I frankly don't think there is more that the Fed can do," said Martin Feldstein, a Harvard University economics professor and former economic adviser to Ronald Reagan.
"They may have done too much," he said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Additional Business News Stories | |
BUENOS AIRES, May 21 (UPI) --
To the joy of neighboring rivals, Argentina's beef exports are dwindling and traders blame government policies.
|
MUSCAT, Oman, May 21 (UPI) --
The Persian Gulf sultanate of Oman is set to buy a $2.1 billion missile system built by the U.S. Raytheon Co. as part of a U.S. drive to install a coordinated air-defense system linking the region's Arab monarchies to counter Iran.
|
Properties repossessed by lenders in the first quarter took an average of 477 days to complete the foreclosure process, up from 414 days in the previous...
|
Nobody likes spending cuts but the champion of that attitude is clearly President Barack Obama, who seems to have a very clear pain-avoidance agenda.
|
| Stories | Photos | Comments |
View Caption