Bernanke Warns of A Depression → Washingtons Blog
Bernanke Warns of A Depression - Washingtons Blog

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Bernanke Warns of A Depression


Everyone knows that Fed chairmen speak in code, and underplay what's really happening. So of course Bernanke won't come right out and say we're sliding into a depression.

But - as Market Watch points out - he's come as close as he can:

But the chairman warned that a lot could still go wrong. "The downside risks probably outweigh those on the upside," he said, pointing to the global nature of the downturn and to the possibility of "the destructive power of the so-called adverse feedback loop, in which worsening economic and financial conditions become mutually reinforcing."

There is no official definition of a depression, but that is as close as any: An economy that is not self-healing but is instead self-destructing.
The Market Watch article says twice that Bernanke is "worried about a depression". He's not alone (see this and this).

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