CBS's Jarvis Laments Lack of 'Political Will' for More Stimulus, Cheers Government Intervention in Economy
Appearing on Wednesday's CBS Early Show, business correspondent Rebecca Jarvis expressed disappointment in the lack of a new stimulus package, but hoped for other government action: "...while the government doesn't necessarily have the political will or the motivation to put a new stimulus into effect here in the United States, the Federal Reserve is prepared to step in and do that."
Co-host Maggie Rodriguez had asked Jarvis about possible reasons for why the stock market "sky-rocketed" on Tuesday. Jarvis touted possible intervention by the Fed as a reason for the stock "surge": "...many are anticipating that the Federal Reserve will take its own tools and do stimulative action."
Rodriguez then wondered: "Yeah, the Fed has been indicating that's it's going to step in and prop up the economy. But there's a lot of speculation about what exactly Ben Bernanke will do. What are the options?" Jarvis replied: "...one particular thing, and that is to start printing more money, put more money into circulation." While she acknowledged that such an action "decreases the value of the money in your pocket," Jarvis rosily predicted: "...it also can increase the value of things around you, like your home."
Here is a full transcript of Jarvis's October 6 report:
7:00AM TEASE:
MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: Stocks surge, the Dow hits a five-month high, gaining over 190 points as markets around the world also show signs of life. So what's behind it? We'll take you live to Wall Street for the latest.
7:12AM SEGMENT:
RODRIGUEZ: We move to the surge on Wall Street. The Dow sky-rocketed yesterday and closed just short of 11,000, making it the best day Wall Street has seen since May. CBS News business and economics correspondent Rebecca Jarvis is at the New York Stock Exchange this morning. Rebecca, we'll take this surge any day of the week. What is the five-month high being attributed to?
REBECCA JARVIS: Well, Maggie, yesterday put us back, like you said, in the before-May levels, where the Dow is, and what people are looking at as the main driver of that are two things. First off, better data from the services sector, looking like we're going to see potentially more jobs created there and, also, this expectation that while the government doesn't necessarily have the political will or the motivation to put a new stimulus into effect here in the United States, the Federal Reserve is prepared to step in and do that and many are anticipating that the Federal Reserve will take its own tools and do stimulative action.
RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, the Fed has been indicating that's it's going to step in and prop up the economy. But there's a lot of speculation about what exactly Ben Bernanke will do. What are the options?
JARVIS: Well, the likelihood of what Ben Bernanke does is really focused on one particular thing, and that is to start printing more money, put more money into circulation. What does that do? Well, it decreases the value of the money in your pocket, but it also can increase the value of things around you, like your home. Maggie.
RODRIGUEZ: Alright. Rebecca Jarvis at the New York Stock Exchange. Rebecca, thank you. And we'll look for those unemployment numbers out Friday, which I'm sure will cause Wall Street to react again.
-Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here.
