Ben Bernanke

Ben Bernanke (bur-NAN-kee) (b. 1953) is an American economist who is the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve, nominated by President George W. Bush to succeed Alan Greenspan. He has been nominated by President Obama for a second seven-year term beginning in 2010. Bernanke took control in early 2006 when the economy seemed to be booming, but it was in the last stages of a housing "bubble"--and the bubble burst in 2007-8.

Bernanke played a major role, along with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in forging a vast, extremely expensive response to the Financial Crisis of 2008. The Fed and Treasury commitments exceeded $1 trillion in direct aid and over $6 trillion in loan guarantees as stock prices returned to 2003 levels. Bernanke, an expert on the Great Depression of 1929, was intervening aggressively to prevent a repeat of that disaster.

In October Bernanke endorsed an eventual stimulus program that gave support to the the proposed spending plans of Barack Obama. Bernanke's term extends to early 2010.

In August 2009, economists--most of them conservatives--on the Wall Street Journal panel are nearly unanimous that Bernanke should be reappointed to another term as chairman. The majority of these economists said the Recession of 2008 is now over. Battling the downturn defined most of Mr. Bernanke's term, which began in early 2006 and expires in January 2010, and economists say his handling of the crisis has earned him four more years as Fed chief. A slow initial response to the credit squeeze and the decision to let Lehman Brothers fail were cited as the biggest errors. Barack Obama has nominated Ben Bernanke to a second term as chairman of the United States Federal Reserve.

On December 1, 2009, the Foreign Policy Magazine has named Ben Bernanke one of 2009’s “Greatest Thinkers".

Career

Bernanke was born in Augusta, Georgia, later moving to Dillon, South Carolina. He excelled academically, becoming class valedictorian at Dillon High School. His academic record and near perfect SAT scores led to his admission to Harvard as a member of the Class of 1975. After receiving his undergraduate degree, Bernanke chose to continue studying economics at MIT under the supervision of Professor Stanley Fischer. His PhD thesis, Long-term Commitments, Dynamic Optimization, and the Business Cycle, was accepted in May 1979. He has taught at Stanford, New York University (NYU), and Princeton. Dr. Bernanke joined the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in 2002. Dr. Bernanke and his wife, Anna, have two children.

Bernanke is a Republican and was appointed to the Federal Reserve Board, and elevated to Chairman, by Republican President, George W. Bush; he was confirmed by the Senate in 2006.

In January 2009, hearings are held to discuss a second four-year term. Some in Congress, Barbara Boxer and Russ Feingold, questions his handling of the recession and the Obama Administration is pressing for his speedy confirmation. Further throwing his leadership into question would be the lobbying done by disgraced liberal politicians, namely Senators Reid, Dodd, and Kerry, who support Bernanke. He will likely be confirmed with a number of Republicans casting their support.

No mention so far of the growing number of politicians that have signed onto Ron Paul's legislation to pry open and audit the Federal Reserve.

Bilderberg group

In June 2008, Bernanke attended an exclusive Bilderberg meeting in Virginia in violation of the Logan Act.

External links

• Bernanke's Main scholarly articles in JSTOR

See also

• Financial Crisis of 2008
• Recession of 2008