Ben Bernanke testified on the U.S. economic outlook for the year and the future of economic growth. Topics included inflation and unemployment, reform of Social Security and Medicare, and budget deficit reduction. He also said interest rates would remain at current levels until 2014. He also said that “under current law, on January 1, 2013, there’s going to be a massive fiscal cliff of large spending cuts and tax increases,” thus coining the term fiscal cliff to describe a legislative compromise designed to prompt legislators to act on budget, tax, and spending priorities in the new year.