News Summary: Speaking too clearly can have price
News Summary: Sometimes there's a downside to speaking too clearly in economics
Foto del 19 de junio del 2013 del presidente de la Reserva Federal Ben Bernanke en una conferencia de prensa en Washington. (Foto AP/Susan Walsh)
CLARITY OVERRATED?: For U.S. policy makers, events that seem at first like positive developments can sometimes unexpectedly bite back.
UNEXPECTED TAKEAWAY: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested last week that continued economic gains might allow the central bank to begin withdrawing financial life supports "later this year." It may have sounded like good news, but it triggered a multiday sell-off in the stock and bond markets.
OBSCURITY MAY WORK: The previous two Fed chairmen — Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker — often seemed deliberately obscure when discussing Fed strategy. It wasn't always clear what they meant. But their public comments rarely triggered huge market selloffs either.
