{"id":208328,"date":"2010-01-21T11:02:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-21T16:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/analyst-dont-congratulate-arsonist-bernanke-for-putting-out-his-own-fire-2010-1"},"modified":"2010-01-21T11:02:00","modified_gmt":"2010-01-21T16:02:00","slug":"jim-bianco-dont-congratulate-arsonist-bernanke-for-putting-out-his-own-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/208328","title":{"rendered":"Jim Bianco: Don’t Congratulate ‘Arsonist Bernanke’ For Putting Out His Own Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"

(This post originally appeared at TechTicker<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

Keeping Ben Bernanke as Fed chairman is like rewarding “the arsonist [who] put out his own fire,” says Jim Bianco, president of Bianco Research.<\/p>\n

Bianco is harshly critical of Bernanke for his failures both as a regulator, which the Fed chairman has conceded, and for his easy money policies, which Bernanke denies were a major cause of the housing boom and subsequent bust.<\/p>\n

Many Fed watchers share this view<\/a> yet Congress is likely to approve Bernanke’s reappointment, perhaps as early as this week. But critics of the Fed have been holding up the process and may resist voting on Bernanke’s reappointment until a bill to audit the Fed comes up for a vote first.<\/p>\n

Against that backdrop, Bernanke supported a “full review”<\/a> of the Fed’s role in the AIG bailout earlier this week. The move was hardly magnanimous, Bianco says, suggesting the Fed chairman was trying appear conciliatory so Congress will vote on his reappointment<\/a> before Jan. 31, when Bernanke’s current term as chairman expires.<\/p>\n

“What Bernanke is doing is holding out a partial carrot – he’s hoping that’ll be enough to get his nomination through the Senate,” Bianco says. “It’s completely political.”<\/p>\n

Whether the ploy works remains to be seen but Bianco supports the effort to audit the Fed, even as he’s sensitive to concerns it will restrain the central bank’s ability to conduct monetary policy without political influence.<\/p>\n

The audit the Fed movement is gaining moment “because of their secrecy [and] fear of their abuse of the Federal Reserve Act,” Bianco says, comparing the Fed’s opposition to a guy who speeds all the time, get tickets and then complains about losing his license.<\/p>\n

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