Ben Bernanke: Economic Risks Remain. President Bush: Don’t Panic.

Today, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke went before Congress and testified that economic risks remain. Indeed, departing from his usual, “the economy is on the road to recovery” line, Bernanke made it clear that he is uncertain about a great deal in the economy. He also pointed out that inflation is a very real concern. Extra concerning, in fact, since there hasn’t been complementary economic growth to blunt the effects.

I think he forgot to mention, though, that the orgy of interest rate cuts the Fed made to build “confidence” in the stock market played a very large role in the inflation we are seeing.

President Bush tells us not to panic

And, of course, President Bush also addressed the American people today, reiterating that our financial system is not on the verge of collapse and that panic is not a good idea.

I agree with Bush on very little, but he’s right about this. Panicking and withdrawing money from the bank isn’t going to help anyone. If everyone succumbs to hysteria, we really will end up with a serious problem. What you need to do is check your bank to ensure that it’s FDIC insured. (Or your credit union for NCUA insurance.)

This way you can feel better about whether your money is safe. And if you have more than $100,000 in your account (or $200,000 joint), open a new account for some of the money at another FDIC insured bank. That way you can ensure that if the bank does, surprisingly, fail, you will get your money back.

image credit: US government