The Washington Post gave a glowingly positive account of Ben Bernanke's efforts to deal with the economic crisis. Missing from this discussion was any mention of the fact that he deserves a large part of the blame for this crisis. Bernanke was a persistent and vigorous bubble denier, first in his capacity as a member of the Board of Governors and then on his becoming Fed chair in January of 2006. Even as the bubble began to unwind in the winter of 2007 he gave assurances that the problems would be contained in the subprime market. After he engineered the takeover of Bear Stearns in March of 2008, Bernanke told Congress that he did not see another Bear Stearns out there. Needless to say, he was surprised by the collapse of Lehman and the market's response six months later. It might have been worth including some acknowledgment of the fact that, in addition to being the person trying to lead us out of this crisis, Bernanke was also one of the people who deserves the most blame for leading us into the crisis. The media have a tendency to write glowing accounts of people in positions of power in the United States. I recall when a person I knew quite well was given a high position, the news reports described this person as being brilliant and having a sharp intellect. I personally liked and respected this person, but I doubt very much that anyone who knew this person would have made a point of talking about their brilliance or sharp intellect. Unfortunately, reporters often seem to believe that it is their job to promote confidence in the people in power. It isn't.
--Dean Baker
