Funny how throughout 2008 he claimed there to be no recession, how can we believe what he says today if only a year ago he said there was no recession. I think he is lying. Bernanke Says No Recession; U.S. Economy Will Show 'Resilience' in Long Term Fed Chairman tells House Budget Committee a stimulus package could be needed to help the economy in the short-term; food and energy prices should 'decelerate.' By Jeff Poor Business & Media Institute 1/18/2008 2:55:27 PM Send this page to a friend! (click here) He didnât try to sugarcoat it, but Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke did say the U.S. economy was not destined for the Armageddon scenario some in the media have been prognosticating. Bernanke wasnât completely down on the economy â specifically he doesnât foresee a recession, despite the mediaâs clamor that the economy is going into or is already in a recession. He praised the U.S. economy for its ability to shake off rough times. âI think over the longer term, that the economy will perform quite well,â Bernanke said. âI think we have challengers as well. Obviously we need to address some of these fiscal issues. We need to address our education system. There are issues about health care. Those are all very important, but the U.S. economy, for the last century, has shown its tremendous resilience and its ability to grow, despite all its challenges.â Bernanke testified before the House Budget Committee on January 17 about the prospects of the governmentâs enacting an economic stimulus plan that could help the U.S. economy through a slowdown. âI agree that fiscal action could be helpful in principle, as fiscal and monetary stimulus together may provide broader support for the economy than monetary policy actions alone,â Bernanke said. âBut the design and implementation of the fiscal program are critically important. A fiscal initiative at this juncture could prove quite counterproductive, if it provided economic stimulus at the wrong time or compromised fiscal discipline in the longer term.â Bernanke was cautious not to suggest everything will be fine. âI think we have some short-term issues associated with the dynamics of our housing market and some of these issues in financial markets and weâre looking at a slowdown,â Bernanke said, responding to a question about the perception of the economy from Rep. Daniel E. Lungren, (R.-Calif.). âBut, over longer periods of time, the U.S. economy has shown remarkable and consistent growth particularly in the last decade or so. Productivity growth has been outstripping other industrial countries quite consistently.â With any rate cuts by the Fed, the threat of inflation crops up â specifically causing a spike in commodity prices, like gold and oil, which are valued on the global market in U.S. dollars. Bernanke told Budget Committee members the Board of Fed Governors are monitoring inflationary threats. âThus far, the publicâs expectations of future inflation appear to have remained reasonably well anchored and pressures on resource utilization have diminished a bit,â Bernanke said. âFurther, futures markets suggest that food and energy prices will decelerate over the coming year. Given these factors, overall and core inflation should moderate this year and next, so long as the publicâs confidence in the Federal Reserveâs commitment to price stability is unshaken.â