Special Report:Global Financial Crisis
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Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve
Alan Greenspan testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform
Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington October 23, 2008. The hearing
centered on the role of federal regulators in the Wall Street financial
crisis. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
NEW YORK, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Former Federal Reserve
Chairman Alan Greenspan on Thursday admitted he was "partially" wrong for not
trying to oversight credit default swaps, complex trading instruments meant to
act as insurance against default for bond buyers.
Greenspan, who has led the U.S. central bank for more
than 18 years, told the Congress that the current financial crisis is a
"once-in-a-century credit tsunami," and warned U.S. unemployment would rise
further.
"Given the financial damage to date, I cannot see how
we can avoid a significant rise in layoffs and unemployment," Greenspan said.
Greenspan said that a necessary condition for the
crisis to end would be stabilization in home prices, which would not happen in
many months in the future. He said the recently approved 700 billion dollars
bailout package could serve the need and its impact was already being felt in
markets.
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Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman
Alan Greenspan is sworn in to testify before the House Oversight and
Government Reform Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington October 23,
2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino agreed with
Greenspan's forecast about unemployment, saying U.S. GDP numbers for the
final two quarters of this year would be tough.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported that initial
filings for jobless benefits increased last week by 15,000 to a seasonally
adjusted 478,000, higher than expected.
The economy is in a recession and the job market will
continue to worsen, analysts said.
On Thursday, the dollar continued rising against the
euro and the pound. The euro bought 1.2852 dollars in late New York trading
compared with 1.2866 dollars it bought late Wednesday. The pound fell to 1.6124
dollars from 1.6337 dollars.
The dollar also dipped to 1.1598 Swiss francs from
1.1599, and to 96.05 Japanese yen from 97.97. It rose to 1.2598 Canadian
dollars from 1.2521 though.
U.S. home foreclosures rise dramatically
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The number of homes being fore closured in the United States was up 126 percent over the last three months, Realty Trac Inc. reported on Thursday.
Home foreclosures from July to September totaled 250,091, the firm said. Full story
U.S. stocks trade mixed after two days of sell-off
NEW YORK, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed mixed Thursday after two days of sell-off. Led by energy sector, the Dow Jones industrials rose more than 2 percent.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications for unemployment benefits rose 15,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 478,000. Full story
Wall Street suffers heavy sell-off on concerns of weak corporate earning outlook
NEW YORK, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street suffered another heavy sell-off Wednesday on increasing concerns about global economic recession and weak corporate earning outlook. All major indexes plunged more than 4 percent while the Dow Jones average declined more than 500 points.
Commodity producers led the decline, as investors were concerned about weak global economy will slash demand for commodities. Exxon Mobil and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. tumbled as crude fell below 67 U.S. dollars a barrel and copper price slid. Full story
U.S. housing market expected to remain weak
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Home sales in the United States will continue to drop, indicating that the housing market will remain weak until at least next summer, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Wednesday.
Existing home sales this year will fall about 13 percent and then rebound slightly next year, rising about 3 percent, followed by a 6 percent increase in 2010, MBA, which is meeting this week in San Francisco, said. Full story
