News Release

Federal Reserve and Unemployment

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MARK WEISBROT
Weisbrot is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. He said today: “While America is suffering through its worst spell of unemployment since the Great Depression, some Republicans in Congress actually want to change the law so the Fed can’t legally pursue full employment as it is supposed to do now. This is pretty crazy stuff. Meanwhile, there is backlash against the Fed for actually doing something right this time — ‘quantitative easing’ — and fears of inflation when it is actually too low. The Fed’s latest move can actually reduce the interest burden of the country’s public debt and makes it easier for the Congress to do what it should have done two years ago: enact a stimulus that is big enough to actually pull the economy out of its current slump and put people back to work. It’s not enough, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.”

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167