Reuters spoke with people who have attended Bernanke’s high-priced private dinners.
In a series of quarter-million-dollar dinners with wealthy private investors, Ben Bernanke has been clearer than he ever was as chairman of the Federal Reserve on his expectations that easy-money policies and below-normal interest rates are here for a long time to come, according to some of those in attendance.
Bernanke, who retired from the U.S. central bank in January, has predicted the Fed will only very slowly move to raise rates, and probably do so later than many forecast because the labor market still has a lot more room to recover from the financial crisis and recession.
One guest left with the impression that Bernanke doesn’t expect to see a 4% Fed funds rate in his lifetime.
The story could get some traction (or maybe all the bond buying this week came after guests left the events).
