A recent Fed report examines the income of families in 2007 and the same families in 2009, distributed in 20 percent brackets. According to the report, 69.4 percent of those in the lowest income bracket in 2007 were also in the lowest bracket two years later; 19.1 percent rose to the second quintile, 6.7 to … Continue reading
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday offered a tempered view of the U.S. economy, pouring cold water on the notion that recent upbeat signs herald a stronger recovery. Bernanke told Congress that unless growth accelerated, the unacceptably high U.S. unemployment rate would not keep dropping. But he stopped short of signaling further Fed bond … Continue reading
Seeking to make good on past threats in Congress to rein in the Federal Reserve’s powers, a prominent Republican lawmaker said on Thursday he will introduce legislation to focus the U.S. central bank on a single mandate to fight inflation and protect the dollar’s value. Representative Kevin Brady, vice chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, … Continue reading