James Hamilton Defends Ben Bernanke

James Hamilton of Econbrowser ably and appropriately defends Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who was browbeaten by members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ("On grilling the Fed Chair," June 27, 2009). Hamilton writes,

It is one thing to have different views from those of the Fed Chair on particular decisions that have been made-- I certainly have plenty of areas of disagreement of my own. 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.

These interrogations reveal more about those doing the grilling than they reveal about Bernanke. I see this as pure political theater, and I don't like it.

If Congress wants to explore more usefully the wisdom and motives behind some of the decisions that have been made, it might want to investigate why some legislators are now pushing for Fannie and Freddie to guarantee a riskier category of mortgage condo loans.

Occasionally a bit technical for readers with limited background in economics, Econbrowser is one of the best blogs on economics. James Hamilton and Menzie Chinn are excellent economists and writers.

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