In a prepared speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Symposium in Jackson Hole, WY, Fed chairman Ben S. Bernanke said with regard to current economic prospects, that despite positive signs in manufacturing, housing and international trade and the rebound in equipment and software investment and improving conditions in financial and credit markets, the economic situation is “obviously far from satisfactory.”
Bernanke said he sees growth being held back currently by a number of headwinds, namely:
In his conclusion, Bernanke defended his posture of maintaining interest rates “close to its effective lower bound,” noting that in their absence, the 2007-2009 recession would have been deeper and the current recovery would have been slower than has actually occurred.