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
Clear communication is always important in central banking, but it can be especially important when economic conditions call for further policy stimulus but the policy rate is already at its effective lower bound.
So far, the actual actions taken have been relatively modest, but there is some hope, I think, that, going forward, these actions will advance further and we will see more progress in the current account.
In these circumstances, the FOMC judged that some further firming of monetary policy may be necessary, an assessment with which I concur.
A further jump in energy prices or a more pronounced reaction to those increases in prices that have already occurred could test the strength of the expansion,
Providing quantitative guidance about the meaning of 'long-term price stability' could have several advantages, including further reducing public uncertainty about monetary policy and anchoring long-term inflation expectations even more effectively,
Quantitatively, outsourcing abroad simply cannot account for much of the recent weakness in the U.S. labor market and does not appear likely to be an important restraint to further recovery in employment,
There's no magical relationship between inverted yield curves and recession. There's a debate why long-term rates are so low. It's partly a low term premium and a lot of saving looking for a relatively limited number of investments.
It's been a resilient economy, it's responded well and job creation has proceeded apace.
I think it's generally a bad idea for the Fed to be the arbiter of asset prices. The Fed doesn't really have any better information than other people in the market about what the correct value of asset prices is.
Interest rates are used to achieve overall economic stability.
Roger made invaluable contributions to the Federal Reserve and to the country.
These are issues that we are going to have to address, because they are significant.
The Fed's policy choices can always be debated, but the quality and commitment of the Federal Reserve as a public institution is second to none, and I am proud to lead it.
Indeed, I would argue that, in situations of considerable slack, growth that is generated solely by increased productivity, and that is unaccompanied by substantial employment growth, may possibly require monetary ease, rather than monetary tightening, in the short run.