“We must urgently address structural weaknesses in the financial system”

On Friday the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the United States are now closer to the long waited recovery from the worst of the crises that have occurred since the Great Depression. Addressing the annual Fed conference in Jackson Hole Bernanke said in a speech that economic activity in both the U.S. and around the world appears to be "leveling out," and "the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good.”

However, Bernanke underlined that while there is much progress in stabilizing financial markets and trying to bust through credit clogs, consumers and businesses are still having trouble getting loans.

"Although we have avoided the worst, difficult challenges still lie ahead," stated Bernanke. "We must work together to build on the gains already made to secure a sustained economic recovery."

In his speech Bernanke touched upon the critical events that happened to America over the past year and talked about measures taken by the government to avert the catastrophe. The Fed swooped in with unprecedented emergency lending programs to fight the crisis. It eventually slashed a key bank lending rate to a record low near zero. And Congress enacted programs to stimulate the economy, the most recent coming in February with President Barack Obama's $787 billion package of tax cuts and increased government spending.

"Without these speedy and forceful actions, last October's panic would likely have continued to intensify, more major firms would have failed and the entire global financial system would have been at serious risk," Bernanke said.

"Looking forward, we must urgently address structural weaknesses in the financial system, in particular in the regulatory framework, to ensure that the enormous costs of the past two years will not be borne again," he said.