Just because a recession is ending doesn’t mean huge growth right away. It’s interesting to see what the future may hold after such a terrible economic spell.

• On Tuesday, Ben Bernanke – the Federal Reserve chairman – said that it was “very likely” that the recession has already ended, though the problems it caused will still linger for a while.
• Forecasters predict that we will only experience moderate growth for the rest of 2009 through 2010 – the problems affecting credit markets, consumer confidence, and the housing crisis still need time to be fully solved.
• One of the most important problems that needs to be addressed is how the government is going to carefully dismantle the spending, lending, and guarantee programs it put in place to stabilize the economy – too quickly and we could be back to more problems, but too slowly and significant inflation could set in.

Facts & Figures

• Retail sales in August surged by 2.7% in July – the largest increase since January of 2006.
• Growth in 2010 is predicted to be moderate, not much faster than the basic growth rate of the economy.

Best Quote

“Without these speedy and forceful actions, last October’s panic would likely have continued to intensify, more major financial firms would have failed, and the entire global financial system would have been at serious risk.” – Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve

Tags: Federal Reserve, recession