This guy is going to be BIG BIG trouble for the US and World economy. I really hope he doesn't get confirmed (even though he will).

I haven't heard that from anyone. You wanna give us a little more info?

Is it because Bush = Hitler and this guy worked for Bush and is therefore a Nazi?

I watched a whole speech of his last night on CSPAN (from early October of this year) and he did nothing but spout conservative rhetoric (ie Tax cuts for the wealthy, cutting social programs, make the poor take care of themselves as "punishment" for their immoral (according to Strict Father conservative morality) lifestyles, how the weath of the nation being tied to corporate profit is good so deregulation is good). He really didn't say anything new, or different from your typical conservative talking head or politician, he just uses LOTS of technical economic terms that make his speaking hard to follow. He's an incredibly smart person, as all conservatives are, but to think that he's not part of teh overall agenda is to completely fall into the conservative trap.

George W. Bush does not equal Hitler, pal.

Everyone I've heard talk about Bernanke says he talks about economics in plain english, so that it is easy to understand. I though it was a good pick and most financial "experts" and economists also thought it was a good pick. I don't think his fiscal policy will differ much from Greenspan's. I kind of feel bad for him because he is inheriting an economy that has numerous things that could go wrong at any time.

See people talking about how he talks and actaully hearing him talk are two completely different things. Also, I'd like to know who these financial experts and economists are that you trust so much?

I wouldn't feel bad for him. He's moving in to an economy that is going along just fine according to conservatives. It's making social programs barren, creating a more stratified division of wealth, and giving power of finance "back to the people", which really means "back to the 1% who built the country with wealth and, thus, morally deserve it, not to those who are immoral and don't work hard."

Ben Bernake will fit in and do just fine in this economy. Althoguh that scares me silly.

Did he actually say this stuff? Somehow, I highly doubt that is what he said. His goal will be the same as every other Fed. Chairman--to take the economy to new heights so that all of us can benefit. I don't think he is being brought in to serve any specific agenda, other than improving the economy and securing growth. In Washington, this is one of the least "political" positions you will find.

Eh?

You said it right there...he's brought in to improve the economy. But improve it for whom and how? He's obviously not going to say, "Well I think we should raise taxes in teh interest of improving national infrastructure and thus produce an economy that is, in fact, "tax and spend"; give people the opportunity to make their country more cohesive and unified in the guise of spending money (taxing) to improve, not only other's lives, but their own (spending)."

How does the Federal Reserve Chairman make social programs barren? As far as financial experts and economists praising him, turn on the TV, pick any channel you want and you will find them praising the pick. The only person that is against him is Bunning and that is because he has an axe to grind with Greenspan and he knows Bernanke is going to set policy almost exactly as Greenspan did.

Look, ultimately he doesn't have a say in any of this policy stuff. Sure he'll talk about it and his point of view has weight, but in the end, the only real power he has is to change the official interest rate, and specifically, to change the official interest rate in order to keep inflation in check.

Free market economics is based around the idea that everyone benefits from more trade, and more business investment. Of course he'll "serve" that agenda.

It's obvious you have no idea what the Fed chariman does.

This thread is about ball bearings.

Are you basing this on the few passages I've written on the internet, pal?

Alan Greenspan is an avid disciple of Ayn Rand. If he didn't manage to completely fuck up the economy, the new guy'll be fine.

Yeah. But that's all I have to go on. It just seems to me that you aren't understanding what the Fed. Chair does. His chief job is to implement fiscal policy (i.e. regulate the money supply). The main way this is done is by selling/buying Gov. Securities. By doing so, they are able to control the supply of money and manipulate its price (interest rates). These rates are very important because they can have a big impact on foreign trade, inflation, and other factors that have a significant impact on the economy. His main gola is to keep the economy strong, while keepng the volatility at a minimum. The Fed Chair won't be passing any tax laws that benefit the rich. Leave that to the President and the House/Congress.

Okay, thanks for the information, I didn't know that. Although, I think my point is, WHO is he keeping the economy strong for? and WHAT are the ways he's keeping it strong? and are those methods benficial to ONLY certain segments of the country/world, or do they help everyone?

I was just saying that his economic views are parallel to those of conservative morality and to hear him using simliar talking points when speaking about the economy was eye-opening (if that's the right phrase) after hearing multiple people on both sides come out in favor of him.

Well, philosophically, he shouldn't have any motivation to tweak the economy in any way that benefits one group over another. And even if he did, I don't think it is possible for him to do so. He can encourage change, and indirectly affect things with fiscal policy, but like I said earlier, he isn't in charge of changing/making laws. His opinions on how to positively grow the economy may differ from yours or mine, but I still think that his job is to keep the overall picture in mind, not that of certain industries or people.

The general theory is that a strong economy benefits everyone. Sure, it is going to benefit some more than others, but that has nothing to do with what the Fed. Chairman does.

That's true. I guess we'll just have to agree to diagree, because I feel he does haev some input on the fiscal input of the government. That being siad, I was jsut trying to raise some questions about this guy since no one else is asking any. Thanks for engaging, pal.