Lloyd Chapman: Obama Administration Gives Bechtel Bettis A $128 Million Small Business Contract

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve has taken many unprecedented steps in the past four years to try to boost the U. S. economy and counter the effects of a financial crisis that triggered a painful recession. The Fed creates a target range for interest rates and cuts its key federal funds rate to between zero and 0.25 percent. The Fed vows to use all the tools it has to rescue the economy from the worst financial crisis and recession since the 1930s. In a speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Chairman Ben Bernanke lists several options to boost the economy, including the purchase of additional government bonds. Bernanke signals the Fed will buy more government bonds to boost the economy, drive down unemployment and protect against deflation. Through a program called Operation Twist, the Fed says it will sell $400 billion of its shorter-term securities to buy longer-term holdings to try to lower Treasury yields further. The Fed also says it will reinvest its holdings of mortgage-backed securities, which could help keep mortgage rates at super-low levels. The Fed says it will spend $40 billion a month to buy mortgage bonds for as long as it deems necessary to make home buying more affordable. The Fed signals that it may be preparing to take further steps to stimulate an economy that remains too weak to reduce high unemployment.

At E3 last week, Microsoft packed a basketball arena full of journalists and fans to talk about its next-gen console, the Xbox One. So, today’s announcement that the company is reversing its DRM policies for the One was a bit puzzling. Why couldn’t it say this then? Apparently, it was a very recent decision.

Men's Wearhouse abruptly fires founder, longtime ad pitchman George Zimmer

Intellectual Ventures, the “invention capital firm” founded by former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold, is suing Motorola Mobility for patent infringement. Again. On Wednesday IV sued Motorola Mobility in the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, claiming the Google-owned company had infringed seven more of its patents. IV had previously sued the company over six patents in a 2011 Delaware lawsuit, so this brings the grand total of disputed IP items to thirteen, covering everything from multimedia messaging to file transfer technology.

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