Ben Bernanke says that things are better. I think he's right.
“Interest rates are higher, but I think that’s mostly because the news is better,” Bernanke said today at a forum in Arlington, Virginia, hosted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. “It’s responding to a stronger economy and better expectations. So I think that the policy has helped.”
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“We see the economy strengthening,” Bernanke said as part of a panel discussion on boosting lending to small businesses. “It looks better in the last few months. We think that a 3 to 4 percent-type of growth number for 2011 seems reasonable.”
“Now you’re not going to reduce unemployment at the pace that we’d like it to,” Bernanke said. “But certainly it would be good to see the economy growing. That means more sales, more business for companies of all sizes.”
(From Bloomberg iPad app)
There you go. And a 3-4% growth rate for 2011 would be nice. It is the easy growth rate that wouldn't lead to the Fed raising rates.
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President Obama gave a very impressive speech on the horrific shooting and reminded us why he swept into the White House. This was a return to Hope.