Finance Feds Believe Recession Will End This Year

The nation is experiencing an unprecedented number of foreclosures, unmatched in U.S. history. Unemployment in America is approaching Great Depression levels in some states. Consumer spending is considerably down. Last month, the U.S. economy shrunk at a rate it has not in 50 years. The U.S. auto industry, which employs millions of people, is bankrupt. Some of the nation's biggest banks and retailers have gone under, closing their doors.

Yet you believe the recession will conclude by year's end, when there's no job creation going on, an unprecedented number of people on unemployment and food stamps, banks are hoarding money and not lending, combined with the fact 2010's budget is the largest ever, coming in at $3.6 trillion dollars. That's not a recipe for quick success.

Two top Fed officials see recession ending this year

Mon May 4, 2009 6:24pm EDT - NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. recession will likely end this year and policymakers must be ready to act quickly to ensure inflation does not take hold when the economy recovers, two top Federal Reserve officials said on Monday.

Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker and Kansas City Federal Reserve President Thomas Hoenig offered slightly different views on when the world's biggest economy will begin to grow again.

Lacker, speaking to business leaders in Charlottesville, Virginia, said that given the resilience of U.S. consumers --whose spending drives the U.S. economy -- and the unprecedented stimulus injected into the U.S. economy by the Fed, he expects growth to resume by year end.

Hoenig, speaking in New York, was less confident saying the economic outlook remained "uncertain" and it would take "most of the rest of the year" to move out of recession before starting on a path of "steady, slow" recovery in 2010...

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