Bernanke: More Execs Should Have Faced Prosecution For 2008 Financial Crisis

WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a newspaper interview published on Sunday that more corporate executives should have been prosecuted for their actions leading up to the 2008 financial crisis.

Bernanke told USA Today that the U.S. Justice Department and other law enforcement agencies focused on investigating or indicting financial firms.

Ben Bernanke Hired By $25 Billion Hedge Fund

April 16 (Reuters) - Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, has agreed to become a senior adviser to Citadel Investment Group, a $25 billion hedge fund founded by billionaire investor Kenneth Griffin, the New York Times reported on Thursday.

Bernanke, who handed the reins of the U.S. central bank to Janet Yellen last year, will advise Citadel's investment committees on global economic and financial issues and meet the fund's investors, the newspaper said. (http://nyti.ms/1Oh5f4A)

House Dems Press Ben Bernanke On Risks Of Bank Expansion

WASHINGTON -- Four House Democrats sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday, pressing him on the risks of the market manipulation and economic disruption that could be caused by extensive commodities operations at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase.

Banks that receive federal deposit insurance have traditionally been barred from engaging in commercial activities beyond finance, to prevent market abuses and restrict the frequency and scope of financial bailouts. Banks with commercial operations can buy or sell large quantities of physical commodities to ensure that their financial bets pay off.

Bernanke Tells Congress Fighting Unemployment Is A Better Cure For Government Debt Than Austerity

Sure, Ben Bernanke is worried about the U.S. government's debt problem. He just thinks we're going about solving it the wrong way.

Unfortunately, the people who could do things the right way aren't paying any attention to him.

Bloomberg Terminal Spying Targeted Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner: CNBC

The Bloomberg terminal spying scandal has reached new heights, CNBC reports.

A former Bloomberg employee told CNBC that he accessed information on the terminals of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. The employee didn't say specifically what he was looking at, but that it concerned usage of specific functions.

Unemployment Will Stay Above 6.5 Percent For Two More Years: Fed

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve foresees unemployment remaining high into 2015, suggesting it will keep short-term interest rates near record lows at least until then.

In its latest economic forecasts released Wednesday, the Fed predicts that the unemployment rate will stay above 6.5 percent for about two more years. Fed policymakers also expect the economy to grow modestly this year and next despite economic gains so far in 2013.

What the Fed's Historic Bet Means for You

Don't ask me why but, since the Federal Reserve's dramatic policy announcement a couple of weeks ago, I have gotten repeatedly stopped -- in airports, in the grocery store, and on the street -- by people wondering what the Fed decision means for them. The answer is: it's a mixed bag

Those of you with financial assets are generally better off for now, having benefited from an immediate boost to your portfolios (including retirement accounts). Beyond this, however, the outlook is much more uncertain.

Bernanke Warns Congress to Stop Stalling on Economy

hereIn his big speech at Jackson Hole today, Ben Bernanke said that today's weak economy was due not to structural factors, as some conservatives continue to argue, but is "being held back currently by a number of headwinds":

First, although the housing sector has shown signs of improvement, housing activity remains at low levels and is contributing much less to the recovery than would normally be expected at this stage of the cycle.

Alan Greenspan: Republican Attacks On Ben Bernanke 'Wholly Inappropriate And Destructive'

Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan says enough with all the attacking of Ben Bernanke.

"Anyone has the right to criticize Federal Reserve policy, but it is wholly inappropriate and destructive to engage in ad hominem attacks," Greenspan told The Financial Times, referring to GOP presidential candidates' bashing of his successor, Ben Bernanke.

Bernanke has led the Fed since 2006, during the financial crisis, recession and recovery. His drastic actions to stimulate the economy -- keeping interest rates near zero and tripling the size of the Fed's balance sheet -- have become a flashpoint in the Republican presidential primary. On top of all that, add to this the irony that Greenspan and Bernanke actually are Republicans.

Ron Paul, a Republican Congressman and presidential candidate, has long called for an end to the Federal Reserve and a return to the gold standard. Once seen as largely outside the mainstream, Paul's views on the Fed have been gaining traction in the Republican discourse.

When he was still in the race, Texas Governor Rick Perry derided Bernanke saying in August that if the Fed chairman "prints more money between now and the election, I don't know what y'all would do to him in Iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas." He added that printing more money before the election would be "almost treasonous."

Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney has said that if he gets elected he wouldn't let Bernanke stay on as Fed chairman. "I wouldn't keep Bernanke in office. I would choose someone of my own," Romney said in October.

Newt Gingrich expressed similar sentiments: "If they want to really change things, the first person to fire is Bernanke, who is a disastrous chairman of the Federal Reserve," Gingrich said in October.

Original Article
Source: Huff
Author: Bonnie Kavoussi

After Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke Ends Cult Of Personality At Fed Through Transparency

WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Ben Bernanke has achieved at the Federal Reserve what John Maynard Keynes only dreamed of - that economists be viewed not as cult heroes but as humble, competent people on a level with dentists.

Alan Greenspan, Bernanke's predecessor as Fed chairman, was proclaimed a "Maestro" in a 2000 biography as he presided over the longest-ever U.S. economic expansion, working mostly behind a veil of secrecy and boasting of mumbling incoherently.

In the 1980s, then-Chairman Paul Volcker chomped on a huge cigar, glowered and blinded the public with a blizzard of data on monetary aggregates to wrestle down inflation.

Both were larger-than-life personalities.

Bernanke in contrast cuts a modest figure, and has taken much of the mystique from U.S. central banking by making the Fed a more open institution - a move he forwarded this week by unveiling a new monetary policy framework with an explicit inflation target of 2 percent.

In the process, he is quietly revolutionizing the Fed and leaving a lasting legacy for the framing of U.S. monetary policy.