US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S Bernanke said the central bank must focus on the US rather than overseas economies when trying to spur the recovery by purchasing an additional $600 billion in Treasuries.
“Our first objective, the first goal that we have, is to meet our mandate to get price stability and maximum employment in the United States,” Bernanke said yesterday in response to questions from college students in Jacksonville, Florida. “A strong US economy, a recovering economy, is critical not just for Americans but it’s also critical for the global recovery.”
Bernanke came under fire yesterday from officials in Germany, China, and Brazil, who said his plan to pump cash into the banking system may jar other economies and fail to fuel US growth. Critics including Michael Burry, the former hedge-fund manager who predicted the housing market’s plunge, have said Fed policy is encouraging investors to take on too much risk and threatens to undermine the dollar.
“It’s our problem as well if the US is no longer certain that the old recipes don’t work anymore,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said yesterday in Berlin. The Fed’s injection of $600 billion was “clueless” and won’t revive growth, he said.
Brazil’s central bank president, Henrique Meirelles, said “excess liquidity” in the US economy is creating “risks for everyone.” In China, Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said “many countries are worried about the impact of the policy on their economies.” He also said the US “owes us some explanation on their decision on quantitative easing.”
Best week
Stocks capped their best week in two months, with the MSCI World Index and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index up more than 3.4 per cent each, after the Fed pledged on Nov. 3 to buy as much as $600 billion of Treasuries through June to boost the economy.
“We are showing insufficient stimulus,” Bernanke said yesterday in his remarks, mostly in response to questions. Asset purchases have “the goal of reducing interest rates, providing more stimulus to the economy and, we hope, creating a faster recovery and an inflation rate consistent with long-run stability,” Bernanke said to students.
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An acceleration of US economic growth would support the value of the US dollar, Bernanke said.
“The best fundamentals for the dollar will come when the economy is growing strongly,” Bernanke said yesterday.