Bernanke: The Recession Is Over

That's it. The recession is over, according to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. "From a technical perspective, the recession is very likely over at this point," Bernanke said on Tuesday. But unemployment will "be slow to come down—it will come down, but it may take some time." He went on to say that economic forecasters expect economic growth to be relatively slow in 2010 because of "moderate headwinds" like financial and credit problems and families' desire to pay off debts. One key aspect of the economic recovery is reform of financial regulation, a move that Bernanke said he is "quite confident" is coming.