New York Times

ctcld

A growing number of Federal Reserve officials have concluded that the central bank needs to expand its stimulus campaign unless the nation’s economy soon shows signs of improvement, including job growth.

As recently as April, a majority of the officials on the Fed’s policy-making committee — there were then 17 members; there are now 19 — indicated that they no longer expected to hold interest rates near zero through 2014, as they had stated.

But the outlook deteriorated so quickly that at its next meeting in June, the Fed announced a holding action, extending to the end of this year an effort to modestly reduce borrowing costs by adjusting but not expanding its investment portfolio.

Fed officials have now made clear that they may make a move before that program ends in December. But they may wait past the meeting scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday. While the government will release its estimate of second-quarter growth on Friday, postponing a decision until the Fed next meets in September would allow officials to consider two more months’ worth of employment data.

任何美联储的大行动都会对美国总统大选产生影响，此次选举的结果可能取决于经济的表现。共和党人已经敦促伯南克避免采取更多措施，表示行动弊大于利，而民主党人则要求新一轮刺激。

源济

silicon_beaver