Duke the Fed said consumer hurting expensive gasoline

Philadelphia - consumers are faced with higher costs of gasoline and a small market of real estate, Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth Duke said on Tuesday, in remarks that it is probably not be urgent for the high interest rates soon.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard hit one ton similar in a speech late Monday, saying a break, that $ 600 billion quantitative easing program ends in June would give time to the Fed to assess the strength of the economy. Bullard, said us economic growth had disappointed in the first half of the year.

The Fed cuts interest rates to near zero in December 2008 and kept their it since. Bullard said keeping monetary policy on hold signals no change to the promise of the Fed to hold extremely low rates for an extended period.

Remarks of the Duke, while that mainly focuses on financial education, offered a taste of its views on the economy.

"The financial crisis and the slow pace of the recovery of the course had a dramatic impact on the financial decisions made by American families." Now, many have fewer financial resources and the limited options, "Duke said at a conference sponsored by the Boston Fed."

"Many families, particularly those with low to moderate income, face truly the decision between the purchase of gas long distances to drive to work and to pay their mortgage."

After a retirement of raw, fresh gasoline U.S. oil prices dropped to $3.85 per gallon in the last week, the lowest level in five weeks, the Department of energy, said Monday. Although prices are down 11.1 cents the previous week, the national gasoline price is still $1.06 more than last year.

It appears that the economy hit a soft patch in recent months after several quarters of strong growth. Gross domestic product U.S. expanded at an annualized rate of only 1.8 per cent in the first quarter.

Speaking to Philadelphia and St. Petersburg, Russia, respectively Tuesday, Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren offered their views on the financial regulation.

Hoenig argues that the banking organisations under the public safety net should be restricted to activities which impede the assessment, monitoring and control of the risk - such that make loans and deposits to take.

Dealing with, market, brokerage and proprietary trading, said, is not core banking services and therefore should be off limits.

"The consequence of extending the net of security to a growing range of activities is to invite a repetition of our most recent crisis," Hoenig said.

"The social cost of the additional activities and associated complexity can exceed much benefit deprived an individual bank," said Hoenig, who was among the more vocal Fed officials are claiming a break of banks deemed "too big to fail".

Rosengren, for his part, told a Conference of international capital that regulatory agencies must be strictly defined as what is easily available to absorb losses during a financial crisis.

Rosengren, said that the banks which had required capital under the broader definitions were unable to calm investors in the crisis of 2007-2009.

"Clearly, we need to focus on the narrow definitions of capital - that can easily absorb the losses," Rosengren said.

Some U.S. regulatory agencies have raised concerns that capital required under the new Basel III global regulatory standard may be defined differently around the world.