Ben Bernanke
Ben Bernanke
Ben Shalom Bernankeis an American economist at the Brookings Institution who served two terms as chairman of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, from 2006 to 2014. During his tenure as chairman, Bernanke oversaw the Federal Reserve's response to the late-2000s financial crisis. Before becoming Federal Reserve chairman, Bernanke was a tenured professor at Princeton University and chaired the department of economics there from 1996 to September 2002, when he went on public service leave...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth13 December 1953
CityAugusta, GA
CountryUnited States of America
One might as well try to perform brain surgery with a sledgehammer.
I don't fully understand movements in the gold price
Although low inflation is generally good, inflation that is too low can pose risks to the economy - especially when the economy is struggling.
Achieving price stability is not only important in itself, it is also central to attaining the Federal Reserve's other mandate objectives of maximum sustainable employment and moderate long-term interest rates.
The crisis and recession have led to very low interest rates, it is true, but these events have also destroyed jobs, hamstrung economic growth and led to sharp declines in the values of many homes and businesses.
Developments in financial markets can have broad economic effects felt by many outside the markets.
A gold standard doesn't imply stability in the prices of the goods and services that people buy every day, it implies a stability in the price of gold itself.
The basic prescription for preventing deflation is straightforward, at least in principle: Use monetary and fiscal policy as needed to support aggregate spending, in a manner as nearly consistent as possible with full utilization of economic resources and low and stable inflation. In other words, the best way to get out of trouble is not to get into it in the first place.
House prices have risen by nearly 25 percent over the past two years. Although speculative activity has increased in some areas, at a national level these price increases largely reflect strong economic fundamentals.
I don't think that Chinese ownership of U.S. assets is so large as to put our country at risk economically.
The Federal Reserve is not currently forecasting a recession.
The GSEs are adequately capitalized. They are in no danger of failing.
The risk that the economy has entered a substantial downturn appears to have diminished over the past month or so.
The financial crisis appears to be mostly behind us, and the economy seems to have stabilized and is expanding again.