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[ZoZoStockWatch]

Bernanke: Thanks A Bunch!
Posted by Tiernan Ray

The Federal Reserve Board’s policy of lower interest rates did more to save economic growth last year than did the $787 billion stimulus package.

So says a Wall Street Journal survey of 54 economists, as Phil Izzo of the Journal writes this afternoon.

The stimulus boosted economic growth by 1 percentage point in 2009, the majority of economists said, and will probably mean 3% GDP growth this year instead of just 2.2% without the emergency measures.

But the Fed’s easing probably added 1.9 percentage points last year and will add 3.3 percentage points this year.

There you have it: Count the U.S. Federal Reserve among your blessings.