Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended his characterization of the year-end tax hikes and spending cuts as a “fiscal cliff” and not a slope, as some economists and lawmakers have argued. “I think it’s a sensible term,” he told reporters at a Wednesday press conference. The Fed chairman cautioned that going over the cliff even for a short time could be costly and repeated his warning that the central bank can do little to blunt the impact of a full-scale cliff dive.
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Dec 2012
