Bernanke Says Recession Should End in 2009

Bernanke Says Recession Should End in 2009

It will take more than prayer Ben to turn this economy around in 2009.

This from the same man that testified to Congress in 2007 that sub-prime mortgage problem was "well contained"-Lou

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that the recession should end this year and 2010 "will be a year of recovery," if actions taken by the government lead to some stabilization in financial markets.

But that's a mighty "if" given recent severe declines in equity markets to levels not seen in more than a decade despite repeated announcements of government bank and housing rescue plans.

And Mr. Bernanke's hopeful forecast contained caveats, the main one being that officials must successfully break what he called an "adverse feedback loop" in which economic and financial strains become self-reinforcing.