MacroScope

For the first time, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has given credence to the idea that America’s long-term economic potential may have been permanently scarred by the turmoil of recent years. In a speech to the Economic Club of New York, Bernanke said:

 The accumulating evidence does appear consistent with the financial crisis and the associated recession having reduced the potential growth rate of our economy somewhat during the past few years. In particular, slower growth of potential output would help explain why the unemployment rate has declined in the face of the relatively modest output gains we have seen during the recovery.

True, Bernanke came nowhere near saying monetary policy was impotent to improve the situation. Indeed, he argued that the weaker potential growth “seems at best a partial explanation of the disappointing pace of the economic recovery.”

Dana Saporta, director of U.S. economics at Credit Suisse, says the implications for quantitative easing are unchanged.

Bernanke’s speech suggested the Fed is not about to stop – much less reverse – its accommodative efforts anytime soon.

Jonathan Spicer contributed to this post

An important part of the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to embark on an open-ended quantitative easing program was a fresh indication that the central bank will leave rates low even as the recovery gains steam. According to the September policy statement:

To support continued progress toward maximum employment and price stability, the Committee expects that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will remain appropriate for a considerable time after the economic recovery strengthens.

Just why does the Fed believe promising to keep policy stimulus in place for a long time might help struggling economies recovery? Mike Feroli, chief U.S.economist and resident Fed watcher at JP Morgan, traces the first inklings of the idea to the work of Paul Krugman, the Nobel-prize winning economist and New York Times columnist.

In a historic shift in the way the Federal Reserve conducts monetary policy, the U.S. central bank last week announced an open-ended quantitative easing program where it has committed to continue buying assets until the country’s employment outlook improves substantially. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch credit analysts captured Wall Street’s reaction:

With an open-ended QE program to buy agency mortgages, and an extremely dovish statement, the Fed managed to provide a positive surprise for a market that was expecting a lot.

The new plan is really not that different from adopting a defacto growth target. Still, given the lack of complete consensus on the matter within the Fed, its Chairman Ben Bernanke was forced to stick with words rather than numbers to convey his message of central bank commitment. From the Federal Open Market Committee Statement:

Pity the Federal Reserve. Like an over-hyped Olympian, the U.S. central bank enters this week’s policy meeting with sky-high expectations and a high probability of disappointment.

Markets are salivating at the prospect of a decisive easing move when Fed policymakers emerge from their meeting on Wednesday. The S&P 500 is up 3.6 percent in the last four sessions as traders hold out hope the Fed will launch a third round of quantitative easing, or QE3, to blast the U.S. economy out of its funk. Stumbling job creation, manufacturing and spending, as well as a measly 1.5 percent GDP growth in the second quarter and serious spillover threats ahead from Europe’s debt crisis, all feed this thesis. Fed policymakers from Chairman Ben Bernanke on down the line to Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto and James Bullard of St. Louis have also stoked the market with a more dovish tone the last little while. And yet, this is probably not the time for a big policy move.

Topping the list of reasons to disappoint – and to knock the market down to size – the Fed probably doesn’t want to front-run the July employment report that’s due on Friday, and which will give a fresh sense whether the spring-summer slump in the labor market is temporary or more permanent. Waiting until the Fed’s next scheduled meeting, Sept. 12-13, would give policymakers the added benefit of the August jobs report. And speaking of front-running, the U.S. central bank may not want to get out just ahead of the European Central Bank’s policy decision on Thursday. If, down the line, things get really ugly in Europe – or if the U.S. Congress sends the country off the so-called fiscal cliff – the Fed will probably want to have the QE3 bazooka ready in its arsenal.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was asked about the discrepancy between individual rate forecasts of policymakers, many of whom — represented as dots on a chart — see rates rising in the next couple of years, and the Federal Open Market Committee’s statement that it sees rates staying low until late 2014. Bernanke’s answer was clear: the FOMC is king.

The individual projections are inputs to the committee decision, so the committee decision is the critical element in that respect. The committee was quite comfortable with the consensus that we have reported today.

Jason Lange contributed to this post

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke made no direct references to the outlook for monetary policy in a speech to the National Association for Business Economics on Monday. But the message from his heavy focus on a weak labor market was pretty clear: The Fed is not considering tightening policy in the near future and stands ready to do more if growth doesn’t pick up steam this year. Ironically, Bernanke’s pessimism cheered the markets – by signaling that another round of stimulus is not off the table.

Andrew Wilkinson at Miller Tabak captured Bernanke’s feat for the day:

It ain’t what you say it’s the way that you say it – at least that’s what Chairman Bernanke found out on Monday by not mentioning further quantitative easing.

After its last two meetings, the Fed said it would likely keep rates near zero at least through late 2014. But upbeat economic signs, including solid employment growth, have led investors to bet on a move as early as the middle of next year. Bernanke’s speech appeared aimed at pushing back against those expectations.

Sometimes, markets just don’t make a lot of sense. Take Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s two-day testimony this week. Bernanke was his usual dovish self on Wednesday, emphasizing risks to U.S. growth and the likelihood of slow progress on bringing down the jobless rate. Yet global markets suddenly panicked, apparently because the Fed chief did not directly give any hints of imminent easing. It’s surprising that markets would be surprised by this, however, given that few expected any such signals.

On Thursday, however, stocks recovered their footing. By then, it was time for the bond market to use the old Bernanke excuse for a decent selloff of its own.

Yet the basic message in both days of testimony was that economic conditions are still not to the central bank’s liking and that further action does remain on the table. Bernanke’s lack of faith in the recovery is striking:

Ask most economists why the distribution of wealth in the United States has become so unequal over the last three decades and they will likely offer a two word answer: skills gap. They point out that Americans with a college education have a lower jobless rate than those without one, and that better-educated workers make more money than their counterparts.

Yet as regional Federal Reserve presidents disclosed their personal asset holdings for the first time ever, the figures showed a gaping range: from the tens of thousands to the tens of millions.

The report showed the wealthiest officials, Richard Fisher and William Dudley of the Dallas and New York Feds respectively, made millions working the financial industry – Fisher running a hedge fund and Dudley as chief U.S. economist and partner at Goldman Sachs. It would be tough to argue that the two are any more skilled than the career PhD Fed economists who were at the bottom of the list.

The Federal Reserve, which on Wednesday sharply downgraded its outlook for U.S. economic growth and employment, appears to be seriously considering another round of monetary easing. In what would represent a policy U-turn, any third round of quantitative easing or QE3 appears increasingly likely to be heavily tilted toward purchases of mortgage-backed securities.

The idea was recently floated rather surprisingly by Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo, who normally focuses on regulatory issues. Some analysts had speculated Tarullo might not have broad support, but Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments on the matter during his post-meeting press conference on Wednesday suggested otherwise:

The housing sector is a very important sector. Problems in that sector are a big reason why our economy’s not recovering more quickly. I do think that purchases of mortgage-backed securities is a viable option. Certainly, something we would consider if the condition were appropriate. So the answer is yes, we will certainly look into that.

Will they or won’t they (ease monetary policy further)? The question will again garner investors’ attention this week as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and a number of regional Fed bank presidents take to the podium. The speeches come against a backdrop of ongoing worries about economic growth, but on the heels of a number of releases that were not as bad as feared. The bar remains high for the Fed to actively engage in a third round of quantitative easing or QE3 — it would probably take renewed deflationary rumblings to get there.

For now, the Fed is likely to focus on less drastic steps, such as new ways of communicating its policy targets, to satiate wobbly financial markets’ apparent need for ongoing monetary support. Here is the line-up of speakers for this week:

Bernanke will deliver remarks on ”The Effects of the Great Recession on Central Bank Doctrine and Practice” at the Boston Fed on Tuesday at 1: 15 pm EDT.