basically is full of it. He needs to live in the real world where he is actually affected b the actions of the FED. Clueless.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Breaking a long-standing tradition of relative silence on the dollar, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled discomfort Tuesday with the weak dollar's ramifications for the domestic U.S. economy.
The challenges that the U.S. economy has faced over the past year or so "have generated some downward pressures on the foreign exchange value of the dollar, which have contributed to the unwelcome rise in import prices and consumer price inflation," Bernanke said in a speech via satellite to an international banker's forum.
The Fed is "attentive to the implications of changes in the value of the dollar for inflation and inflation expectations and will continue to formulate policy to guard against risks" to price stability and sustainable growth, he said.
Over time, Fed policy will be a key factor "ensuring that the dollar remains a strong, stable currency."
"In collaboration with our colleagues at the Treasury, we continue to carefully monitor developments in foreign exchange markets," Bernanke said.
The U.S. and its colleagues among the Group of Seven leading economies signaled in the last G-7 statement that they believed the weakness of the dollar had gone too far. But foreign exchange markets paid little attention at the time.
See full story. At the same time, Bernanke said rates are where he wanted them to be for the moment as the central bank awaits further developments on how severe the economic downturn will be and whether commodity prices will moderate.
"For now, policy seems well positioned to promote moderate growth and price stability over time," Bernanke said.
Fed watchers have taken this language to mean that policymakers want to hold rates steady at 2.0% until economic data show where interest rates should go.
