Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Jim Bianco Comments on FOMC Minutes Today on CNBC

Jim Bianco
Following the release of the Fed's Open Market Committee minutes this afternoon, Jim Bianco of Bianco Research joined Erin Burnett, CNBC host of Street Signs, to offer his opinion. View the CNBC interview in the video clip below.

In short, Federal Reserve Board officials sharply revised down their forecasts for economic growth next year, and saw unemployment at significantly higher levels than they had the last time they issued official forecasts in June. Most participants in the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's policy-setting arm, backed the plan to ramp up asset purchases in an effort to bring down long-term interest rates and try to nudge economic activity up a notch. The minutes of the Fed's November meeting did show some opposition to the new quantitative easing strategy that was ultimately passed 10 to 1. Also, in a rare, unscheduled meeting held via videoconference on Oct. 15, Fed policymakers debated a range of new avenues for policy, including the possibility of targeting a specific level of bond yields and enhancing communications by instituting news briefings by Chairman Ben Bernanke.