Mr. Ballew said that comments on the fiscal policy decision-making were more of a "wish than a reality" and so had little apparent impact on the markets.
In effect, national sovereignty would be largely retained and fiscal policy decision-making capabilities and room for manoeuvre would be preserved as long as a country in question complies with the limits on borrowing and debt.
Among the risks that could hamper future growth, Mr. Draghi listed "uncertainties about the resolution of sovereign debt and governance issues in the euro area, geopolitical issues and fiscal policy decisions in the United States".
The report noted that "the negative outlook on Australia reflects our view that without the implementation of more forceful fiscal policy decisions, material government budget deficits may persist for several years with little improvement".
Fiscal policy – decisions affecting tax and spending – has been tightened, but none of the major central banks is planning to raise interest rates or to sell back the bonds they have amassed through quantitative easing.
Mark W. Olson, who served with Mr. Bernanke on the Fed's board of governors and is now co-chairman of Treliant Risk Advisors in Washington, acknowledged that "fiscal policy decisions could either exacerbate or negate monetary policy decisions," but said that Mr. Bernanke wanted to avoid the "oracle trap" into which Mr. Greenspan sometimes fell.
She has been vice chairwoman since 2010, a trying time in which the Fed's largely successful efforts to steer the economy have been made all the more difficult by poor fiscal policy decisions, including the White House's premature pivot from stimulus to deficit reduction, which happened while Mr. Summers was a top adviser to Mr. Obama.
In a statement released on Monday, Moody's said the upgrade, from a rating of A2, was "based upon the city's recovery from one of the most serious fiscal crises in decades, resulting from having made difficult budgetary and fiscal policy decisions".
It said: Growth prospects are being dampened by the euro area crisis on the one hand, and the uncertainty surrounding forthcoming fiscal policy decisions in the US on the other The SNB also reiterated its pledge to keep the franc weaker than 1.20 per euro, saying that the franc was still high and "weighing on the Swiss economy".
