I’ve found that those who defend Bernanke as having inherited Greenspan’s mess are most likely to have first heard Bernanke’s name on the day Bush nominated him. But he’s played an important role in shaping monetary policy, the regulatory environment, and the financial system itself for many years. And as I’ve noted before, he voted for every one of the FOMC’s devastating decisions to keep the Fed funds rate at 1% during the crucial 2003-2004 period. Bernanke has become the bearded elephant in the room. As one of the intellectual architects of a failed system, he cannot credibly stand alongside Tim Geithner or other administration officials while they cite the damaging policies of the past eight years.
~ the Cunning Realist
Geithner was the vice chair of the FOMC for part of that period as well, so my question is, did he vote for that policy too? In which case, shouldn’t THAT have been a bigger issue in his confirmation than unpaid taxes?Report
I was amused by Bernanke’s recent comments about banks losing franchise value (speaking of BofA and Citi). I don’t think banks that have lost 95% plus of their stock value and have equity values less than the cash they received from taxpayers having franchise value, but what do I know.Report