Bernanke says US economy is \'close to faltering\' Fed chairman blames euro crisis, uncertainty over jobs market and political battles in Washington for gloomy economic outlook Federal reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has warned that economic recovery is Us \"Faltering close to\", and that a \"disorderly\" default in the Greek debt would have a serious impact. In testimony to Congress, Bernanke was repeatedly quizzed about the impact of the European crisis on America. He said the US was an \"innocent bystander\" in the eurozone debt standoff and that US banks were not heavily exposed to Europe\'s most troubled economies. But he warned that Europe\'s economic woes were already having a negative impact on US stock markets. \"Unless the European situation is brought under control, it could be a much more serious situation for theUs economy , \"he said.