The Atlantic (February 4, 2014)
“Lehman conditioned us to always look for the next domino. But sometimes a falling currency is just a falling currency.” Since last May when then Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke mentioned tapering, “emerging market currencies have been in a world of pain.” But fundamentals are much stronger than before the Asian Currency Crisis so this needn’t be a repeat of 1997. “The danger isn’t slumping currencies. The danger is overreacting to slumping currencies.”
Tags: 1997, Asian Currency Crisis, Ben Bernanke, Currency, Emerging markets, Fed, Fundamentals, Lehman, Overreacting, Tapering
Wall Street Journal (January 26, 2014)
As the Federal Reserve begins tapering, we’ll see which emerging markets have “been swimming naked.” During the days of easy money, nearly anybody could enjoy the party. Now we’ll see which countries squandered the opportunity and left themselves exposed. “The end of Ben Bernanke’s Fed tide will have its uses if it spurs the kind of tax, trade and investment reforms that have been put off in too many places. The question is how much damage will be done as this global adjustment takes place.”
Tags: Ben Bernanke, Damage, Easy money, Emerging markets, Exposed, Federal Reserve, Global adjustment, Investment, Opportunity, Reforms, Squandered, Tapering, Tax, Trade, U.S.
Washington Post (January 4, 2014)
On January 31, Ben Bernanke’s term as chairman of the Federal Reserve will come to an end as Janet Yellen’s begins. “Americans have been uneasy about central banks since the days of Thomas Jefferson and Jackson. But looking at Bernanke’s record, even the skeptics should grant that the country was lucky to have him when the crisis hit.” Bernanke “may go down as the most radical innovator in the Fed’s history — and one of the most successful.”
Tags: Andrew Jackson, Ben Bernanke, Central banks, Chairman, Crisis, Fed, Innovator, Janet Yellen, Radical, Skeptics, Success, Thomas Jefferson, U.S.
Washington Post (September 19)
The massive economic power of the Federal Reserve again moved markets this week. “This much Fed power is not in the long-term interest of the U.S. economy, nor that of the world. We say this not because the Fed’s policies under Mr. Bernanke have been wrong. To the contrary, taking interest rates to zero was aggressive but appropriate in the face of an epic recession…. Yet the Fed’s huge role represents more responsibility for the economy than a single technocratic institution — or any one fallible, unelected official, even a dedicated, talented one such as Mr. Bernanke — should bear for too long.”
Tags: Aggressive, Ben Bernanke, Bernanke, Economy, Federal Reserve, Institution, Interest rates, Power, Recession, Responsibility, U.S.
New York Times (July 30)
President Obama will need to appoint a replacement later this year to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke when his term expires in January 2014. The incoming Chairman will be challenged to delicately wind down the Fed’s massive quantitative easing measures. Camps of support are already arising around the two front runners Lawrence Summers and Janet Yellen. The New York Times comes down firmly in the former’s support, writing “no one else can match Janet Yellen’s combination of academic credentials and policy-making experience. And no one ever confirmed to the job has come to it with as deep a grounding in both the theory and practice of monetary and regulatory policy as Ms. Yellen would bring.” Should she be confirmed, she would also become the first woman to head the Fed.President Obama will need to appoint a replacement later this year to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke when his term expires in January 2014. The incoming Chairman will be challenged to delicately wind down the Fed’s massive quantitative easing measures. Camps of support are already arising around the two front runners Lawrence Summers and Janet Yellen. The New York Times comes down firmly in the former’s support, writing “no one else can match Janet Yellen’s combination of academic credentials and policy-making experience. And no one ever confirmed to the job has come to it with as deep a grounding in both the theory and practice of monetary and regulatory policy as Ms. Yellen would bring.” Should she be confirmed, she would also become the first woman to head the Fed.
Tags: Appointment, Ben Bernanke, Chairman, Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, Lawrence Summers, Obama, Quantitative easing, Replacement, U.S.
USA Today (June 20)
“Rather than blaming the Fed for this week’s market fall, people should thank it for nursing stocks back to health since the sickening market bottoms of March 2009. Dr. Bernanke’s challenge in his remaining months as Fed chairman will be to taper off the medication without harming the patient.”
Tags: Ben Bernanke, Blame, Federal Reserve, Health, Market fall, Stocks, U.S.
