Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke Appears Clueless as Global Economy Sinks
Alan Greenspan, former Fed Chairman and a prime facilitator of the U.S. housing bubble, appears in retrospect a scion of fiscal prudence in comparison with his successor, Ben Bernanke. This disaster-prone Fed Chairman presided over the financial collapse of 2008, which came in the wake of his prediction that the housing bubble would not cause a recession, let alone a global financial meltdown. And this man is still the most powerful architect of U.S. monetary policy?
In his recent speech delivered at the International Monetary Conference in Atlanta, Bernanke blamed everything but himself for what he concedes is anemic economic growth, which he knows all too well is being artificially propped up by the most expansive monetary and fiscal policies in human history. In the Fed Chairman’s world, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, weather conditions and other unpredictable “acts of God” are to blame, not the Federal Reserve’s polices, for the utter disaster that the U.S. and many other advanced economies are coping with.
While in Atlanta, Ben Bernanke made passing reference to the sharp rise in commodity prices, though without admitting that this was due largely to the Fed’s policy of quantitative easing. He then added the illogical assessment that inflation is “not broad based” in the economy. Really?
As he has done before, Bernanke made perfunctory remarks about the need for the policymakers to eventually bring down the U.S. federal government’s budget deficit. As he and his colleagues continue to propel the United States towards a fiscal train wreck, he holds the politicians with no power to rein in Bernanke with responsibility for preventing the future shocks that the Fed’s policies have in store for everyone.
The disconnect this man has with the real world is mind-numbing. One thing, however, we can be thankful for. At least Bernanke has avoided the personal behavior issues that led to the recent resignation of the head of the IMF. With Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, the question is all about his performance as Fed Chairman, and nothing else. On that score, history will probably judge President Barack Obama harshly for reappointing Ben Bernanke as Fed chairman.
