Economist’s View: “Obama Lucky to Have Bernanke”
It may or may not be true, especially these days, that what is good for General Motors is good for America and vice versa, but certainly what is good economically for America is good politically for the president.
It is here that Obama has lucked out. Ben Bernanke is a very good choice for Fed chairman because he is intelligent, honest, pragmatic and clear-sighted in his vision of the economy. He has already guided the Fed through two very tumultuous years with only one major mistake – the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.
This probably helped with Obama’s willingness to reappoint Bernanke:
For years, some of his closest friends did not know that Ben S. Bernanke was a Republican. … “If you read anything he’s written, you can’t figure out which political party he’s associated with,” said Mark L. Gertler, a professor of economics at New York University who has written more than a dozen papers with Mr. Bernanke. Mr. Gertler, who said he did not know his close friend’s political a