Bush Picks Chairman of Economic Council

[Bossy Monkey]

Apr 1, 6:10 PM EST

Bush Picks Chairman of Economic Council

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush has chosen Federal Reserve Board member Ben Bernanke to be the next chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers, the White House announced Friday.

Bernanke would succeed Harvey Rosen, who has been serving as chairman since the departure of N. Gregory Mankiw earlier this year. Rosen had indicated that he wanted to serve only temporarily as chairman of the CEA, the three-member group that gives economic advice to the president.

Bernanke is considered one of the leading candidates to succeed Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan when he steps down from the Fed next Jan. 31.

The White House said Bush would nominate Bernanke to be a member of the council and then, upon his confirmation by the Senate, would designate him as the chairman.

(more)
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BERNANKE_BUSH_ADVISERS?SITE=SCCOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Sounds like an improvement, not that that would be a challenge with this crew.

[Moderator]

1. kick to combine

[UpInArms]

2. Fed's Bernanke Chosen to Lead Bush's Economy Panel

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aEaaxIh.DAus&refer=top_world_news

April 1 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Governor Ben S. Bernanke is President George W. Bush's pick to become the next chairman of the administration's Council of Economic Advisers, the White House said in a statement.

Bernanke, 51, joined the central bank 2 1/2 years ago and since then moved bond markets through speeches more often than any member except Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan. If confirmed by the Senate, Bernanke would join the administration as Bush pushes to overhaul Social Security and extend parts of $1.85 trillion in tax cuts that expire by 2010.

<snip>

``This move today keeps Bernanke solidly in the top tier of possible replacements'' for Greenspan, said Chris Rupkey, senior financial economist for Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in New York. ``It will be quite an intellectual loss for the Fed.''

<snip>

``He has been a prominent voice at the Fed, someone who has spoken his own mind and set a path somewhat separate from Greenspan,'' Robert Brusca, former chief of the New York Fed's international financial markets division, said before today's announcement. ``It's interesting that as the inflation-targeting issue comes to a head, he's leaving.''

...more...

here's one of Bernanke's most bizarre statements:

http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2002/20021121/default.htm

Remarks by Governor Ben S. Bernanke
Before the National Economists Club, Washington, D.C.
November 21, 2002

excerpt:

What has this got to do with monetary policy? Like gold, U.S. dollars have value only to the extent that they are strictly limited in supply. But the U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press (or, today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost. By increasing the number of U.S. dollars in circulation, or even by credibly threatening to do so, the U.S. government can also reduce the value of a dollar in terms of goods and services, which is equivalent to raising the prices in dollars of those goods and services. We conclude that, under a paper-money system, a determined government can always generate higher spending and hence positive inflation.

...more...

[Demeter]

3. This Is Classic Economic Theory

and time-proven technique for fiat money--nothing bizarre about it.
What is bizarre is that Bush actually picked someone with qualifications and experience and training, whom we have heard about before, instead of some nobody puppet. He must be getting desperate.