Did Ben Bernanke Break The Law?

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke may have broken the law by talking about what the Fed did and why by writing about its actions in a Washington Post WPO op-ed article, which was published today. In the article, Bernanke goes on to discuss why policymakers couldn't sit idle, while the economy moved at an anemic pace. He talked about the previous round of quantitative easing he had already done, to the tune of $1.7 trillion, and how it stopped the economic freefall, and started the path for growth. What is especially troubling is Bernanke is looking at stock prices, instead of the actual economy. Read these lines: "Stock prices rose and long-term interest rates fell when investors began to anticipate the most recent action. Easier financial conditions will promote economic growth. For example, lower mortgage rates will make housing more affordable and allow more homeowners to refinance. Lower corporate bond rates will encourage investment. And higher stock prices will boost consumer wealth and help increase confidence, which can also spur spending." It's a little troublesome that Bernanke is looking at stock prices, as opposed to manufacturing data, services data, and other economic data, not what the Dow and S&P did yesterday.