TIME Encourages us to 'Thank' Ben Bernanke

Photo courtesy of here.

I understand that TIME picks their "Person of the Year" partly based on who has had the most impact, but look at this subheading from TIME's accompanying article (emphasis mine):

The story of the year was a weak economy that could have been much, much weaker. Thank the man who runs the Federal Reserve, our mild-mannered economic overlord

Thank him? David Sirota sums up my feelings nicely:

Ben Bernanke fell down on the regulatory job in the lead up to the Wall Street meltdown. He acknowledged this in front of Congress. He then tried to clean up his mess by handing his banker friends trillions of our taxpayer dollars. The result of his regulatory failures and then massive bailouts has been a destructive recession, 10 percent unemployment and debt as far as the eye can see.

Sorry, but Bernanke won't be getting a Christmas card from me this year.

Citizens Gather for "End the Fed" Event in Downtown Cincinnati (Video Report)

This is cross posted here.

Around the Horn on the Reappointment of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke

Let's go around the horn with the reactions to the announcement that President Obama has reappointed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to a second term.

Jill Lawrence:

Obama's decision and his timing bear the marks of sound political and economic strategy. First, the news is big enough that, as I mention in my column on the federal deficit, it will at least temporarily draw attention away from the mammoth deficit projections released Tuesday by the White House and the Congressional Budget Office.

Second, the choice of Bernanke -- a Republican named by former President George W. Bush -- is a reminder of Obama's promise to be bipartisan. Third, it avoids a confirmation battle in Congress. Fourth, it's hard to argue that there could be anyone more qualified or experienced at this moment in history than Bernanke, an expert on the Great Depression of the 1930s.

And fifth, it keeps intact the team that averted an economic and financial collapse and seems at this point to be leading the country out of recession. This is not to say that Congress won't have questions and warnings for the Fed chief, but while Bernanke has been faulted for not picking up on clear signals that the financial and housing sectors were headed for a meltdown, he's won praise for his performance since it happened.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT):

"As a result of the greed, irresponsibility and illegal behavior of Wall Street our country has experienced the worst economic decline since the Great Depression. Mr. Bernanke was head of the Fed and the nation's chief economist as this crisis, driven by reckless speculation, developed. Tragically, like the rest of the Bush administration, he was asleep at the wheel during this period and did nothing to move our financial system onto safer grounds. As the middle class of this country continues to shrink, we need a chairman of the Federal Reserve who is more concerned about expanding the productive economy – increasing decent-paying jobs for all Americans – than continuing to fan the flames of Wall Street greed and outrageous compensation packages.”

David Sirota:

Reappointing one of the key people A) who fell asleep at the regulatory wheel in the lead up to the financial meltdown B) who responded to the meltdown by handing over trillions of no-strings-attached taxpayer dollars to his bank industry friends and C) who has refused to let the public even know who is getting taxpayer bailout money is abominable. The idea that he showed some kind of "brilliance" or "smarts" in throwing trillions of dollars at the banking industry is positively absurd - as is the idea that his scheme has miraculously saved the economy (it ain't a shock that when you shovel trillions of dollars at banks, they will report temporary short-term profits - and those profits don't mean anything is saved for the long-term).

Paul Krugman:

Generally, I’m pleased. Bernanke has done a good job in the crisis — he’s been far more aggressive and creative than almost anyone else would have been in his place, partly because he’s a scholar of the Great Depression, partly because he took Japan’s lost decade seriously and was therefore intellectually prepared for a liquidity-trap world.

[...]

...Ben Bernanke’s performance over the past year deserves praise, and there’s nobody I’d rather have in his position. Congratulation, Ben.