Chairman Bernanke delivered a speech on November 20th to the Economic Club of New York. The speech is titled “The Economic Recovery and Economic Policy” and a full transcript can be found here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/20/idUSW1E8KA00A20121120. I will summarize Charman Bernanke’s main points and analyze and critique a few of his comments. His speech focused on the main indicators of economic recovery and growth, and he also discussed the effects of the fiscal cliff.
Unemployment
The unemployment rate is currently 7.9%, down from a peak of 10% in the fall of 2009. The improvement of the labor force has been slower than the FOMC expected,