THE BUSINESS WEEK

摘要

On Dec. 11, Ben Bernanke's band cut the federal funds rate by a quarter-point, to 4.25%, and publicly fretted about the credit markets. Investors who had hoped for a half-point sent the stock market reeling. The next day, however, the Fed unveiled a new way to attack the credit crunch—what it called a Term Auction Facility, essentially another channel for pumping liquidity to banks. What's more, major central banks in Europe agreed to coordinate action. Wall Street regained a bit of ground, figuring the Fed's move lessens the chances of a meltdown. However, most forecasters agree that the Fed will have to cut rates again to avoid a recession.