Ben Bernanke (1953- )
Ben Shalom Bernanke (English pronunciation: /bərˈnæŋki/ bər-NANG-kee; born December 13, 1953) is an American economist, and the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States. During his tenure as Chairman, Bernanke has overseen the response of the Federal Reserve to late-2000s financial crisis.
Bernanke was a tenured professor at Princeton University and was chair of the Department of Economics there from 1996 to September 2002, when he went on public service leave. From 2002 until 2005, he served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Here he outlined the Bernanke Doctrine and first spoke of the Great Moderation, where he postulated that we are in a new era, where modern macroeconomic policy has decreased the volatility of the business cycle. He then served as Chairman of President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers before President Bush appointed him to be Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve on February 1, 2006. Bernanke was confirmed for a second term as Chairman on January 28, 2010, after being nominated by President Barack Obama.
Quotes·Quotation by Ben Bernanke
Finance, Finance·Money
¶ The U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press, that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at no cost. [Remarks by Governor Ben S. Bernanke, Before the National Economists Club, Washington, D.C., November 21, 2002]
¶ Under a paper-money system, a determined government can always generate higher spending and, hence, positive inflation. [Remarks by Governor Ben S. Bernanke, Before the National Economists Club, Washington, D.C., November 21, 2002]
¶ The U.S. government is not going to print money and distribute it willy-nilly ... although there are policies that approximate this behavior. [Remarks by Governor Ben S. Bernanke, Before the National Economists Club, Washington, D.C., November 21, 2002]
¶ A central bank should always be able to generate inflation, even when the short-term nominal interest rate is zero ...[this] more direct method, which I personally prefer, would be for the Fed to announce ceilings for yields on all longer-maturity Treasury debt. [Remarks by Governor Ben S. Bernanke, Before the National Economists Club, Washington, D.C., November 21, 2002]
¶ This devaluation and the rapid increase in money supply ... ended the U.S. deflation remarkably quickly. [Remarks by Governor Ben S. Bernanke, Before the National Economists Club, Washington, D.C., November 21, 2002]
¶ The Fed has the authority to buy foreign government debt, as well as domestic government debt. Potentially, this class of assets offers huge scope for Fed operations, as the quantity of foreign assets eligible for purchase by the Fed is several times the stock of U.S. government debt. [Remarks by Governor Ben S. Bernanke, Before the National Economists Club, Washington, D.C., November 21, 2002]
¶ A money-financed tax cut is essentially equivalent to Milton Friedman's famous "helicopter drop" of money. [Remarks by Governor Ben S. Bernanke, Before the National Economists Club, Washington, D.C., November 21, 2002]
¶ To avoid large and unsustainable budget deficits, the nation will ultimately have to choose among higher taxes, modifications to entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, less spending on everything else from education to defense, or some combination of the above. [Ben Bernanke, Speech given on Apr. 7, 2010 to the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce, "Economic Challenges: Past, Present and Future"]
¶ And so yeah, I'm sleeping a little better, but again, I think it's really important not to be complacent. We have a long way to go, a lot of work to do, and we're going to keep doing that. [in an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer on "World News," 03/27/2012]
¶ We're not paying any attention to election calendars or political debates. We're looking at the economy. We want to make the right decision. We want to do it without political pressure, and that's what we're going to do. [in an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer on "World News," 03/27/2012]
Nerd
¶ I am very proud of my nerd-dom. In fact, the world needs more nerds. Nerds, you know, create more jobs and advance science and I hope make good economic policy but that remains to be seen. [in an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer on "World News," 03/27/2012]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Bernanke