Fed’s Fisher Cites Several Roadblocks to Recovery

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank president Richard Fisher said yesterday that the U.S. economy faces both short-term “roadblocks” to recovery and longer-term risks to sustained prosperity.

He said consumer and business confidence need to rise and banks need to boost lending for spending to increase. He added federal budget deficits and threats to the Fed’s independence pose longer-term risks to the outlook.

“We have just come through a hellish economic downturn,” Fisher said in remarks prepared for delivery to the World Affairs Council of Dallas-Fort Worth. “We are slowly clawing our way back from the edge of what could have been a repeat of the Great Depression.”

While there are “some signs of improvement,” he said, “there remain many roadblocks that must be overcome before we will be able to breathe easy again.”

— Market News International

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