The U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy has kicked off speculations among experts in the industry about an emerging asset and economic bubble in the country. However, Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve has waved away all the concerns claiming that the policy has spurred construction jobs throughout the country and it would not be taking the policy down anytime soon.
In late 2012, The Federal Reserve had declared that it would hold interest rates near zero until the unemployment rate drops below 6.5 percent in the country. It had also announced that it would buy bonds worth $85 billion to bring down long term borrowing costs to boost the economy.
In the minutes of the Federal Reserve's last meeting on Wed, Feb 20, it was reported that some officials were worried about continuing with the bond buying program as the initiative could lead to a potential asset bubble.
Over speculation in investments like housing and stocks leads to an asset bubble.
Experts wanted to know when the Federal Reserve would curb its massive bond-purchasing scheme.
However, Bernanke and his team have declared that they would not take down the bond purchasing policy as yet. They have pledged to continue the program until the employment market improves 'substantially', reports Bloomberg.
The current unemployment rate in the country is 7.9 percent.
"The Fed's dual mandate from Congress is to pursue maximum employment and price stability. We are missing on both of these goals. Unemployment is far too high and inflation is too low," John Williams, President of the San Francisco Fed said to Reuters.
"I anticipate that purchases of mortgage-backed securities and longer-term Treasury securities will be needed well into the second half of this year." he added.
Early in February 2013, The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) released a report stating that construction employment in the country had hit a record three-year-high. The sector had added around 300,000 jobs in the past two years of which 100,000 jobs were introduced since September 2012 alone.
Furthermore, Moody Analytics Inc., a Pennsylvania based financial services firm estimated that job growth in 2013 would be close to 2 million while employment growth could reach 3 million by 2014-15. TD Securities, another new-York based financial firm said that around 20,000 construction jobs will be added per month in 2013.
Though the market has been showing positive signs, risk of the monetary policy backfiring still remains.
