Economic Crisis, Federal Reserve | featured news

The simple truth is that Obama and the Democratic Congress were dealt a lousy economic hand, and they've played it about as well as anyone could. Along with their predecessors and the holdovers at the Federal Reserve, they prevented a collapse of the global financial system and a 1930s-like depression. But given the magnitude of the financial crisis and the global imbalances that gave rise to it, a prolonged period of slow growth and high unemployment was almost inevitable.

Central bank will return the money to the Treasury; bank's unconventional efforts to prop up the economy created windfall for the government.

The Federal Reserve signaled on Wednesday that it isn’t close to raising interest rates, saying the economy remains weak.

The Fed dramatically increased the amount of money it will create out of thin air to thaw frozen credit markets.