Ben Bernanke gave a rare TV interview today and sounded optimistic. When he testified to congress last month, he sounded cautiously optimistic that a recovery could take root this year.
He said today it can only happen if the government can get banks lending money freely again. But even as his opinion got a little rosier today, he still said the unemployment rate will keep rising, possibly past 10 percent nationwide.
Bernanke spoke at a time of rising public anger over financial bailouts using taxpayer money. Institutions that have been thrown lifelines include AIG, Citigroup, Bank of America, and the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
This weekend, the troubled insurance giant a-i-g is giving its executives tens of millions of dollars in new bonuses even though it's received almost 180 billion dollars in bailouts.
The Obama Administration tried to reduce the bonuses and Bernanke himself said it's the case that has made him the maddest. He said he slammed the phone a few times while discussing AIG.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
abc30 News Links:
Links to other news sections on our website.
- HomePage
- Top Headlines
- Fresno Local News
- State News
- National/World News
- Entertainment News
- Business News
- Politics News
- Sports News
- Health Watch
- Consumer Watch
- Mr. Food
Breaking News Alerts:
Click Here to Sign-Up for Breaking News E-Mail Alerts
Receive Breaking News alerts in your email inbox.
Click Here to Sign-Up for Text Message Alerts
Receive Breaking News alerts right on your cell phone.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
