James Hamilton’s Comment on Ben Bernanke

I found this blog post from James Hamilton to be interesting:

http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2009/06/on_grilling_the.html

especially when he says this:

“But it is another matter to question Bernanke’s intellect or personal integrity. As someone who’s known him for 25 years, I would place him above 99.9% of those recently in power in Washington on the integrity dimension, not to mention IQ. His actions over the past two years have been guided by one and only one motive, that being to minimize the harm caused to ordinary people by the financial turmoil. Whether you agree or disagree with all the steps he’s taken, let’s start with an understanding that that’s been his overriding goal.”

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I like to think of the role of the Fed Chairman in a different light, especially with our current economic situation.  I believe that perhaps the two most pertinent questions are:

1.  Does Ben Bernanke have a full understanding of the economic situation we find ourselves in?

2.  What can (and should) he do about it?  Especially considering the concepts of Sustainable Prosperity and America’s Economic Future? (both of which have been extensively referenced on this blog)

SPX at 900.4 as this post is written