Frederick Mishkin, the former Federal Reserve Board Governor who is best known for his 2006 study praising Iceland's economy to the sky, endorsed Bernanke's reappointment as Fed chair. According to the NYT, Mishkin commented: "My view is Chairman Bernanke helped save the world from depression, ... Whether you agree with every policy he’s pursued or some of the ways the bailouts were done, the outcome here, given the severity of the shock, is a good one. But that’s hard to explain to the American public when we’re sitting with 10 percent unemployment.” It would have been worth reminding readers of Mishkin's track record. It probably also would have been worth pointing out that the severe shock that Mr. Mishkin referred to was the result of Bernanke and Greenspan's failure in managing the economy.
--Dean Baker
