Last week, during his Congressional testimony, Ben Bernanke received various accolades from members of Congress.
While the official transcript is not yet available, the Wall Street Journal, in a July 19 Real Time Economics post titled “Congress Gives Ben Bernanke A Hero’s Send-Off” provides various highlights.
While I don’t necessarily agree with any or all of the following statements from members of Congress below, I do find them notable and post them for reference purposes.
Excerpts from the Real Time Economics post include:
In Mr. Bernanke’s two days of delivering the Fed’s semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress, at least 13 members of the House Financial Services Committee and seven members of the Senate Banking Committee prefaced their questions to Mr. Bernanke by thanking him for steering the economy through the Great Recession and its aftermath.
“You acted boldly, decisively and creatively,” Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas) told Mr. Bernanke Wednesday. “Under your leadership, the Fed took a number of actions that certainly staved off even worse economic” pain, said Mr. Hensarling, who is chairman of the House committee and has been an outspoken critic of some Fed policies.
also:
Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.), who has offered his share of criticism about U.S. economic policy in recent years, told Mr. Bernanke: “Your quiet but strong leadership has been instrumental in keeping our economy from falling into an abyss and repeating the devastation of a Great Depression. And we are now, because of your leadership, on the path towards turning the economy around.”
also:
Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) told Mr. Bernanke that 2014 and 2015 “will be stronger economically than our present time, and that will be in large part because of the building blocks that you put into place, even if you’re no longer chairman of the Fed.”
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The Special Note summarizes my overall thoughts about our economic situation
SPX at 1692.09 as this post is written