Bernanke visits Indianapolis Monday

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The Chairman of the Federal Reserve used a visit to Indianapolis to send two messages.

First, Ben Bernanke explained the policies the Fed enacted to stimulate the economy.

He also encouraged Congress to respect the privacy of the Fed’s discussions, so that political disputes don’t influence decisions made by the agency.

Bernanke told an audience at the Economic Club of Indiana that the evidence suggests the economy is not in recession.

“We expect the economy to continue to grow. That’s our best forecast as of now, so we are not expecting a recession,” said Bernanke. “That being said, with an economy which is growing only sort of one-and-a-half to two-percent, that is not fast enough to lower the unemployment rate.”

The concern right now, according to Bernanke is the pace of economic growth. He noted that more than 40-percent of the unemployed have been out of work at least six months. Bernanke is concerned that continued slow growth will not do enough to get those Americans back to work.