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On Wednesday, the Fed said it thinks the economy will grow between 1.9 percent and 2.4 percent this year, sharply less than in its previous estimate in April. And it's roughly the annual pace at which most economists think the economy is growing now. "All economists have shaved down their forecasts for this year," said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at the Martin Smith School of Business at California State University. Sohn said his own forecast was in line with the Fed's. He said he was surprised the Fed didn't downgrade its unemployment outlook even more based on its forecast for economic growth. Even so, "If the Fed's forecast unfolds, that would be bad news for incumbent politicians," Sohn said. "If I were President Obama, I would be worried." Some political strategists expect the picture the Fed sketched of the economy to play into Romney's hands. "If I'm Mitt Romney, I immediately use Bernanke's comments to make the case that what I've been saying is right: Barack Obama isn't working, the stimulus has failed and the only way to take us out of this is to make a change in the White House," said Joe Brettell, a Republican strategist. He said Romney's message is simple: "I'm the guy who can fix the problem." Most people think the biggest problem is unemployment. Brian Bethune, an economics professor at Gordon College in Massachusetts, said he thinks the unemployment rate will end the year at 8.1 percent or 8.2 percent. Bethune thinks the Fed might decide by early fall that the economy needs some aggressive new step, such as another bond buying program. The Fed has completed two such programs. It bought more than $2 trillion in Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities. If such a program were launched and helped boost the economy, it could end up benefiting job seekers and perhaps Obama's re-election chances. "If we are still seeing these terrible employment numbers," Bethune said, "then the Fed is going to have to consider another move. The economy can't just flop along at this level." Bethune said the problem for incumbents like Obama is that perceptions about the economy tend to freeze about six months before an election
-- even if the economy improves after that. Even so, economists note that continued declines in oil and gas prices could spur growth by giving consumers more spending power. On Wednesday, the Fed said it will continue a program called Operation Twist through year's end. Under the program, the Fed has been selling $400 billion in short-term Treasurys since September and buying longer-term Treasurys. The Fed said it will extend Operation Twist using $267 billion in securities. But it might not provide much benefit. Businesses and consumers who aren't borrowing now at historically low rates aren't likely to do so just because rates dipped a little more. David Jones, chief economist at DMJ Advisors, estimates that extending Operation Twist will lower long-term rates by only about one-tenth of a percentage point.
[Associated
Press;
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