EconomicCrisis.US

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the U.S. economy was in recession from March 2001 to November 2001.  The economy eventually recovered from that downturn, but jobs were slow to be created in that recovery.

In fact, it took until June 2003 before the number of employed people in the civilian labor force equaled the number seen at the start of that recession.  June 2003 — or 19 months after the 2001 recession was deemed to be officially over — was also the month the unemployment rate peaked at 6.3%.

These statistics play a large role in why the period after the end of the 2001 recession is commonly referred to as a jobless recovery.
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Since rolling out his anti-Great Depression policies in 2002, Ben Bernanke has had the dubious distinction of being the major contributor to the worst financial and economic crisis to hit in the post-World War II era. His theory and practice was to fight an enemy that did not exist in 2002 – deflation. As a result, he ended a long period of economic prosperity.

As chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors and a Federal Reserve governor, Bernanke strongly supported policies that pushed the federal funds rate to 1% and inundated banks with liquidity during 2002-2005.
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Federal Reserve vice chairman Donald Kohn believes that prices of mortgage-backed securities are likely to fall when the Fed eventually begins selling mortgage-backed securities (MBS) from its portfolio, according to a MarketNews International report by Steven K Beckner last Thursday.

The report continues: “He gave no indication when that might be. But Kohn, echoing earlier comments by New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley, said the Fed may well avoid any losses on its asset holdings, as well as on its liquidity facilities. ‘These programs may be unwound without loss,’ Kohn said, commenting from the audience at a Boston Federal Reserve Bank conference. He said the Fed entered the market ‘when prices were depressed by high premiums’ and so ‘the Fed could finance without risk.’ That in turn will mean they can be ‘unwound without loss.’”
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The United States may face a series of asset price bubbles and a rerun of the financial crisis unless it lets the dollar fall “at least” another 25 percent, economist Bernard Connolly said on Tuesday.

Because fierce international resistance will likely prevent such a large dollar devaluation, Connolly told Reuters the Federal Reserve may instead have to extend indefinitely its artificial support of a struggling U.S. economy by purchasing another $2 trillion in U.S. Treasuries and federal housing agency debt.

Some investors have started to watch Connolly’s forecasts. In February, he accurately predicted the Fed would have to buy Treasuries to boost the money supply and reduce borrowing costs for companies and households.
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