McNay on Money
People think I am hard on Federal Reserve Chair, Ben Bernanke, but I am beginning to think that I am not hard enough. I want for the world to avoid being plunged into worldwide panic, famine, and devastation.
Bernanke seems determined to do the opposite; look at the recent activity in the markets.
I do not think Ben is evil nor has an economic death wish; I think he is totally clueless. We could have picked any person working in a 9 to 5 job, and they would make a better Federal Reserve Chair.
Some people, like myself and Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, were saying this before Bernanke got the job. However, the United States Senate was clueless as to what kind of person should have the most important economic job in the world, and they let Ben sail through the confirmation hearings.
The key to being a good fed chair is being in touch with where we are and where we are going. Ben spent all of his life in an ivory tower and does not have an idea what it is like in the real world. He thinks hardship is when they run out of clean silver spoons at the Princeton Faculty Club dining room.
I would love for people to ask their United States Senators why they voted to confirm Bernanke and if they stand behind that vote now. I think that Bunning was the only one to vote against Ben.
There is an excellent article in the Wall Street Journal this week about when Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy's, interviewed their current CEO, who is an MBA and a CPA. Thomas told her, "You cannot think like an accountant. You have to take care of your customer."
If Thomas were alive today, he would tell Bernacke, "Ben, you can't think like an academic, you have to take care of the American people."
I would feel a lot happier with a guy like Dave Thomas, who was a high school dropout, running the Federal Reserve Board than Ben. Ben has more degrees than a thermometer but doesn't understand the concept of taking care of the people he was appointed to serve.
This incident is the epitome of how out of touch Bernanke and his band of followers on the fed are:
Fed Underestimated Spread of Debt Crisis, Worried About Prices
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aYrqhzCehuJM&refer=home
Here are some previous columns I have written on Ben Bernanke:
Big Shot Bernanke
Nice Guys Make Lousy Senators