Bernanke: Deficit Necessary In Short Term, But Unstainable In Long Term

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says Thursday that while the current deficit in the short term is necessary given the state of the nation’s economy, the trajectory of the economy is unstainable. (0:22)

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Bernanke: Small Businesses Not Currently Able To Create Jobs

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says economic hardships that small businesess face are hurting job creation in the United States. (0:19)

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Bernanke: U.S. Must Address Short Term And Long Term Fiscal Issues

Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, says that the U.S. must work towards reducing the deficit and adressing short term concerns. (0:24)

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Bernanke: Short-Term Unemployment Can Lead To Permenant Unemployment

Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, says that short-term unemployment can lead to workers’ skills eroding, demoralization, and permenant unemployment. (0:48)

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Bernanke: Wall Street Reform Bill Could Prevent Future Economic Disasters

Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, says that the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform bill could prevent future financial crises. (0:29)

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Chairman Bernanke says he remains confident in the economy's prospects

Chairman of the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors Ben Bernanke testified at the Joint Economic Committee Hearing on "The Economic Outlook," saying clearly the U.S. economy is going through a very difficult period, but among the great strength of our economy is its ability to adapt. Much necessary economic adjustments has already taken place, he says, and he remains confident in our economy's long-term prospects. (:25)
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Chairman Bernanke says failure of Bear Stearns would have severely shaken confidence

Chairman of the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors Ben Bernanke testified at the Joint Economic Committee Hearing on "The Economic Outlook," saying normally the market sorts out which companies survive and which fail. However, he says, our financial system is extremely complex and interconnected, and financial conditions are fragile, so the sudden failure of Bear Stearns likely "would have led to a chaotic unwinding of positions in those markets and could have severely shaken confidence." (:30)
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Chairman Bernanke says he expects economic activity to strengthen

Chairman of the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors Ben Bernanke testified at the Joint Economic Committee Hearing on "The Economic Outlook," saying overall, the near-tern economic outlook has weakened relative to the projections released by the FOMC, and it now appears likely that GDP will not grow much if at all. We expect economic activity to strengthen in the second half of the year, he says, and growth is expected to proceed at its sustainable pace in 2009. (:46)
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