Bernanke: Despite recovery, many continue to struggle

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke issued a statement this morning acknowledging that many people and businesses are facing tough times despite the fact that many of the broad measurements of the economy point to a slow recovery. “Even though some key aggregate metrics—including consumer spending, disposable income, household net worth, and debt service payments—have moved in the direction of recovery, it is clear that many individuals and households continue to struggle with difficult economic and financial conditions,” he says in a prepared text. Bernanke was speaking to a research conference on the topic of economic measurement. He did not discuss the outlook for monetary policy or refer to a report that the economy added a more-than-expected 163,000 jobs in July even as the jobless rate rose to 8.3%. Bernanke says there have been interesting developments in the field of measuring economic well-being, giving as an example the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness index, which incorporates indicators such as level of education and time spent in leisure activities.