The Federal Reserve’s chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, said Wednesday that Congress is the largest obstacle to faster economic growth, and he warned that upcoming decisions about fiscal policy could once again undermine the nation’s recovery.
…Moreover, he said, Congress could make things worse later this year. “The risks remain that tight federal fiscal policy will restrain economic growth over the next few quarters by more than we currently expect, or that the debate concerning other fiscal policy issues, such as the status of the debt ceiling, will evolve in a way that could hamper the recovery,” he said.
Needless to say, Republicans in Congress will pay no attention to the Republican-appointed Fed chairman. These days, they prefer getting their economic policy advice from Glenn Beck and the ghost of Andrew Mellon.
