Bernanke warns politicians to avoid ‘fiscal cliff’

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday urged Congress and the Obama administration to strike a budget deal to avert tax increases and spending cuts that could trigger a recession next year.

Without a deal, the measures known as the “fiscal cliff” will take effect in January.

Bernanke also said Congress must raise the federal debt limit to prevent the government from defaulting on Treasurys debt. Failure to do so would impose heavy costs on the economy, he said. Bernanke said Congress also needs to reduce the federal debt over the long run to ensure economic growth and stability.

Uncertainty about all these issues likely is holding back spending and investment and troubling investors, the Fed chairman said in a speech to the Economic Club of New York.

Resolving the fiscal crisis would prevent a sudden and severe shock to the economy, help reduce unemployment and strengthen growth, he said. That could make the new year “a very good one for the American economy,” he said.

“A stronger economy will, in turn, reduce the deficit and contribute to achieving long-term fiscal sustainability,” Bernanke told the group.

When asked during a question-and-answer session after the speech whether the Fed could soften the impact of the fiscal cliff, Bernanke was firm in his warning.

“In the worst-case scenario where the economy goes off the broad fiscal cliff ... I don’t think the Fed has the tools to offset that,” Bernanke said.

Bernanke also said the severity of the Great Recession may have reduced the U.S. economy’s potential growth rate. He didn’t say by how much or how long slower-than-normal growth might persist.

Over the long run, the U.S. economy has grown an average of about 2.5 percent each year. Economists predict growth in the July-September quarter will be revised up to an annual rate of about 3 percent, above the government’s initial 2 percent estimate. But they think the economy is slowing to an annual growth rate below 2 percent in the October-December quarter — too slow to make much of a dent in unemployment.

Bernanke said several factors have weighed on growth: Long-term unemployment has eroded many workers’ skills and led some who have lost jobs to stop looking for one.

Companies have spent less on machinery, computers and other goods, reducing their production capacity. Stricter lending rules and uncertainty about the economy may have discouraged would-be entrepreneurs from starting more companies, the Fed chairman said.