Bernanke: Juice the economy 'quickly'
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Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers told lawmakers on Tuesday that Congress should consider a stimulus package of up to $150 billion. He proposed an immediate injection of $50 billion to $75 billion through a combination of tax cuts and increased spending on unemployment benefits and other programs. He also advocated that another $50 billion to $75 billion be set aside in case economic conditions weaken further.
During Thursday's hearing, Bernanke said he thought a fiscal stimulus package of up to $150 billion, would be "reasonable." A spokesman for President Bush said Thursday that the White House also supports a short-term stimulus package. Bernanke cautioned though that any stimulus "should be explicitly temporary" in order "to avoid unwanted stimulus beyond the near-term horizon and, importantly, to preclude an increase in the federal government's structural budget deficit." The Fed chairman said that extending some of the tax cuts engineered by Bush in 2001 and 2003, which are set to expire in 2010, could have a positive impact on the stock market today. He singled out the cut on dividend taxes as particularly key to stimulating the economy.
Tags: Ben Bernanke, economy, Larry Summers To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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