Is Ben Bernanke the new Mary Poppins?His "spoonful of sugar" of choice is slashing 225 basis points from the federal funds rate since September. Today, he told the U.S. Congress that more rate cuts will probably be coming.
"In part as the result of the developments in financial markets, the outlook for the economy has worsened in recent months, and the downside risks to growth have increased," he said in his prepared testimony. "To date, the largest economic effects of the financial turmoil appear to have been on the housing market, which, as you know, has deteriorated significantly over the past two years or so."
He goes on to mention that demand for housing is weak because of the "the virtual shutdown of the subprime mortgage market and a widening of spreads on jumbo mortgages" while the labor market has suffered as the gains in service sector employment slowed and construction and manufacturing jobs fell.
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For a quick-read on the U.S. economy, check the price of gasoline
