JUDGMENT CALLS

Bernanke's Burden

Despite Obama's all-star team, Bernanke is the most powerful economic policymaker in Washington

By Robert J. Samuelson | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Dec 8, 2008 | Updated: 11:05  a.m. ET Dec 8, 2008

« Return to Article

Discuss

Member Comments

  • Posted By: chazman69 @ 12/10/2008 10:07:54 AM

    Bernanke, Paulson, et al, are not much more than cardboard cut-out figureheads whose messages simply ruse and confuse the media, congress and the public, always assuming intellectual and economic superiority, justifying opacity, obfuscating the truth, creating smoke screens. The purpose, to allow the international bankster syndicate to game the housing and financial markets through lending deregulation, international currency manipulation and outright theft, i.e. billions of dollars of cash in Iraq disappearing into thin air, with now market oversight in place to detect the whereabouts of stolen currency.

    • Posted By: Generic Person @ 12/12/2008 2:40:27 AM

      The problem with your laughable conspiracy theory, is that is lacks evidence.

  • Posted By: Generic Person @ 12/09/2008 5:36:16 AM

    "The press has given Bush and his lackeys a free ride."

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    "Stop letting him off the hook."

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    Oh that Bush and his 10% approval rating, the media needs to get off it's butt and inform America!

  • Posted By: markci @ 12/08/2008 6:30:15 PM

    The Federal Reserve bank is not a private bank, nitwit. It is a semi-independent public institution with certain private aspects. The chairmain is appointed by the President. The governors are appointed by the President. It's a pretty strange "private bank" if everyone running it is appointed by the President of the U.S.

    The Fed must and quite obviously does "report to Congress" on a regular basis. Congress has oversight and routinely passes statutes that alter the way the Fed works.

    The most hilarious thing is your statment about a privileged "enshrined in law!") Well, who do you think makes the laws, genius? Who do you think can change them? Yet the conflict between this and your previous absurdities about the Fed not being under Congress's control never occurs to you. LMAO!

  • Posted By: techie22 @ 12/08/2008 6:26:02 PM

    Every time Bernanke raised the rates, he made things worse.

    His fear of inflation caused the foreclosure crisis and if we can't turn things
    around, he will have created deflation which is so much worse. What was
    he thinking? Gee I don't want things to get too expensive for the rich people.

    When you pare him with Paulsen who received $500 million in 2006 from Goldman
    Sachs, you can understand why they just wanted 100's of billions for all their
    friends. WILL THEY START TO TRICKLE DOWN NOW? Not holding my breath.

  • Posted By: opensourceror @ 12/08/2008 4:29:10 PM

    How is it that we allow an unelected official like Ben Bernanke and a private bank (The Federal Reserve) to run our economy from top to bottom? Bernanke can "print" unlimited amounts of money, negotiate with international banks and generally wreak havoc and destruction entirely at his whim without having to report to congress or the president (and that privilege is enshrined in law!). Until we abolish the Federal Reserve this crisis is only going to get worse.

  • Posted By: outonthetiles @ 12/08/2008 3:53:05 PM

    "Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes the laws" - Meyer Amschel Rothschild

  • Posted By: Cloudosmoke @ 12/08/2008 2:15:34 PM

    Considering all the press on Obama as if he is officially in charge I'm glad to see that someone has turned the light over to those with the reigns. The press has given Bush and his lackeys a free ride as the economy still slides down the steep slope. The media continues to paint the President-elect as reasons for the rise and fall of the daily market. All Obama can do at this point is keep doing what he is doing, planning and preparing. Right wingers will try try to blame him for the decrease in the bee population if they could. Media need to stay focused on Bush as he continues his path of destruction. Stop letting him off the hook.

  • Posted By: austin c @ 12/08/2008 1:00:04 PM

    Alan Greenspan blamed his failure of predicting worldwide meltdown on the defect of mathematical model he used, while W. Bush blamed his failure on the bad intelligence input. This means the politicians tend to blame their failure on the ( usually) highly educated and paid analysts of either in finance or intelligence, the latter of which is nicely depicted by actor John Malkovich in the movie Burning after reading.

Reply

Report Abuse

Enter comments if any for reporting abuse