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Ben S. Bernanke
Ben Bernanke
Incumbent
Assumed office 
February 1, 2006
Preceded by Alan Greenspan
Born December 13, 1953 (1953-12-13) (age 54)
Augusta, Georgia
Nationality American
Spouse Edna Bernanke
Alma mater Harvard College
MIT
Profession Macroeconomist
Religion Jewish

Ben Shalom Bernanke[1][2] is an American economist and current Chairman of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve. The Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the head of the central banking system of the United States and one of the most Events 1327 - Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Alan Greenspan (born March 6 1926 in New York City) is an American Economist and was from 1987 to 2006 the Chairman of the Federal Reserve of Events 1294 - Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months Celestine hoped to return to his previous life Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Augusta Georgia is a city in Richmond County, Georgia, United States. The State of Georgia ( is a state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule Alma mater is Latin for "nourishing mother" It was used in Ancient Rome as a title for the mother Goddess, and in Medieval Harvard College is the undergraduate section and oldest school of Harvard University, a Private university in the United States founded in 1636 by the Massachusetts Macroeconomics is a branch of Economics that deals with the performance structure and behavior of a national or regional Economy as a whole Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Macroeconomics is a branch of Economics that deals with the performance structure and behavior of a national or regional Economy as a whole The Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the head of the central banking system of the United States and one of the most He was previously Chairman of the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), and member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA is a group of Economists who advise the President of the United States. On October 24, 2005, President George W. Bush appointed Bernanke to succeed Alan Greenspan as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Events 69 - Second Battle of Bedriacum, forces under Antonius Primus the commander of the Danube armies loyal to Vespasian, defeat Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. George Walker Bush ( born July 6 1946 is the forty-third and current President of the United States. Alan Greenspan (born March 6 1926 in New York City) is an American Economist and was from 1987 to 2006 the Chairman of the Federal Reserve of Bernanke was sworn in on February 1, 2006 after the Senate's confirmation by a voice vote on January 31, 2006. Events 1327 - Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives A voice vote in a Legislative body refers to a Vote taken on a topic where the participants merely respond verbally to a question with a spoken "yea" (yes Events 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon. 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

Contents

Early life

Bernanke was born December 13, 1953, in Syracuse, New York, but grew up in Dillon, South Carolina. Events 1294 - Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months Celestine hoped to return to his previous life Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Syracuse (locally ˈsɛrəkjuːs sometimes ˈsɪrəkjuːs or /ˈsɪərəkjuːs/ by non-natives is a city in Central New York, USA. Dillon is a city in Dillon County, South Carolina, United States. He is the eldest of three children, having a younger brother and sister. His younger brother, Seth, is currently a lawyer in Charlotte, NC, and his younger sister, Sharon, is a prior student and longtime administrator at Berklee School of Music in Boston. His father Philip was a pharmacist and part-time theater manager, and his mother Edna was originally a schoolteacher. They were one of the few Jewish families in the area, attending a local synagogue called Ohav Shalom; as a child, Bernanke learned Hebrew from his maternal grandfather Harold Friedman, who was a professional Torah reader and Hebrew teacher. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ A synagogue (from Greek: grc συναγωγή transliterated synagogē, "assembly" he בית כנסת beit knesset, "house of term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to [3] His father and uncle co-owned and managed a drugstore that they had bought from his paternal grandfather, Jonas Bernanke, who had immigrated to the United States from Austria after World War I and moved to Dillon from New York in the 1940s. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous [4]

He was educated at East Elementary, J. V. Martin Junior High, and Dillon High School, where he was a high-achieving pupil. He taught himself calculus, edited the school newspaper, was class valedictorian and achieved the highest SAT score in the state that year — 1590 out of 1600. Calculus ( Latin, calculus, a small stone used for counting is a branch of Mathematics that includes the study of limits, Derivatives Valedictorian is an academic title typically conferred upon the highest ranked student among those being graduated from an educational institution The SAT Reasoning Test (formerly Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test) is a standardized test for College admissions in the [5] He was also the All-State saxophonist, playing in the school's marching band. The saxophone (commonly referred to simply as sax) is a conical- bored transposing Musical instrument considered a member of the Woodwind [6]

During the summer, Bernanke attended Camp Ramah located in New England. Camp Ramah ( מחנה רמה) is a network of Jewish Summer camps operating in the United States, Canada, and Israel.

Career

He spent his undergraduate years at Harvard and graduated with a B. A. in economics in 1975. Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Throughout college, he worked as a waiter to support himself during the summer at South of the Border, a roadside attraction in his hometown of Dillon. South of the Border is a rest stop and Roadside attraction on Interstate 95 and US 301 - 501 near Dillon South Carolina, so named [7] He received a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1979. "PhD" redirects here for other uses see PhD (disambiguation. His thesis was named "Long-term commitments, dynamic optimization, and the business cycle" and his thesis adviser was Stanley Fischer. Stanley "Stan" Fischer ( Hebrew: סטנלי פישר is an Economist and the current Governor of the Bank of Israel. [8] He taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business from 1979 until 1985, was a visiting professor at New York University and went on to become a tenured professor at Princeton University in the Department of Economics. The Stanford Graduate School of Business (also known as Stanford Business School or Stanford GSB) is one of the professional New York University ( NYU) is a private, Nonsectarian, Coeducational Research University in New York City. The meaning of the word professor ( Latin: professor, person who professes to be an expert in some art or science teacher of highest rank) varies Princeton University is a private Coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. He chaired that department from 1996 until September 2002, when he went on public service leave. He resigned his position at Princeton July 1, 2005. Mr. Bernanke was a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2002 to 2005. On February 1, 2006, he was appointed as a member of the Board for a fourteen-year term and to a four-year term as Chairman. [9]

Economic views

He has given several lectures at the London School of Economics on monetary theory and policy and has written three textbooks on macroeconomics, and one on microeconomics. The London School of Economics and Political Science, more commonly referred to as The London School of Economics or LSE, is a specialist college of the Monetary theory (known also as money/macro theory) is a major branch of Macroeconomics and a framework of analysis that deals with monetary systems and Macroeconomics is a branch of Economics that deals with the performance structure and behavior of a national or regional Economy as a whole Microeconomics is a branch of Economics that studies how individuals households and firms and some states make decisions to allocate limited resources typically in markets He was the Director of the Monetary Economics Program of the National Bureau of Economic Research and the editor of the American Economic Review. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER is a private nonprofit research organization dedicated to studying the science and empirics of Economics, especially the The American Economic Review ( AER) is a Peer-reviewed journal of Economics published quarterly by the American Economic Association. He is among the 50 best economists in the world according to IDEAS/RePEc. Research Papers in Economics (RePEc is a collaborative effort of hundreds of Volunteers in 57 countries to enhance the dissemination of Research in Economics

Bernanke is particularly interested in the economic and political causes of the Great Depression, on which he has written extensively. On Milton Friedman's ninetieth birthday, November 8, 2002, he stated: "Let me end my talk by abusing slightly my status as an official representative of the Federal Reserve System. Milton Friedman (July 31 1912 November 16 2006 was an American Nobel Laureate Economist and Public intellectual. I would like to say to Milton and Anna: Regarding the Great Depression. Anna Jacobson Schwartz (1915 is an Economist at the National Bureau of Economic Research in New York City. You're right, we did it. We're very sorry. But thanks to you, we won't do it again. "[10][11][12]

In 2002, when the word "deflation" began appearing in the business news, Bernanke gave a speech about deflation. Deflation is the opposite of Inflation. Therefore under the usual contemporary definition of inflation 'deflation' means a decrease in the general price level. [13] In that speech, he mentioned that the government in a fiat money system owns the physical means of creating money. The terms fiat currency and fiat money relate to types of currency or Money whose usefulness results not from any intrinsic value or guarantee that it can be Control of the means of production for money implies that the government can always avoid deflation by simply issuing more money. Means Of Production is a compilation of Aim 's early 12" and EP releases recorded between 1995 and 1998 (He referred to a statement made by Milton Friedman about using a "helicopter drop" of money into the economy to fight deflation. Milton Friedman (July 31 1912 November 16 2006 was an American Nobel Laureate Economist and Public intellectual. In Monetary economics, a liquidity trap occurs when the nominal Interest rate is close or equal to zero and the Monetary authority is unable ) Bernanke's critics have since referred to him as "Helicopter Ben" or to his "helicopter printing press". In a footnote to his speech, Bernanke noted that "people know that inflation erodes the real value of the government's debt and, therefore, that it is in the interest of the government to create some inflation. In economics inflation or price inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services over a period of time "[13]

He is believed to be less ideologically rigid than Alan Greenspan and has been reluctant to weigh in on political issues. Alan Greenspan (born March 6 1926 in New York City) is an American Economist and was from 1987 to 2006 the Chairman of the Federal Reserve of For example, while Greenspan publicly supported President Clinton's deficit reduction plan and the Bush tax cuts, Bernanke, when questioned about taxation policy, said that it was none of his business, his exclusive remit being monetary policy, and said that fiscal policy and wider society related issues were what politicians were for and got elected for. A tax cut is a reduction in taxes. Economic stimulus via tax cuts along with interest rate intervention and deficit spending are one of the central tenets of Keynesian economics Indeed, in his undergraduate economics textbooks he somewhat distances himself from the overt economic liberalism of Greenspan. Economic liberalism is the Economic component of Classical liberalism.

His first months as chairman of the Federal Reserve System were marked by difficulties communicating with the media. An advocate of more transparent Fed policy and clearer statements than Greenspan had made, he had to back away from his initial idea of stating clearer inflation goals as such statements tended to affect the stock market. [14] Maria Bartiromo disclosed on CNBC their private conversation on Fed policy (in which Bernanke said investors had misinterpreted his comments as indicating that he was "dovish" on inflation), and he was criticized for making public statements about Fed direction. Maria Bartiromo (born September 11, 1967) is a business news anchor and interviewer CNBC (an abbreviation for the " C onsumer N ews and B usiness C hannel" its official name until 1991 is a cable and [15] Presidential Candidate and Texas Representative Ron Paul, a member of the House Banking Committee - who takes the view that the Federal Reserve System should be abolished and the economy should revert to 'Hard Assets'[16] - has criticized Bernanke for "continually lowering interest rates," which he avers to have caused drastic inflation and unnecessary growth of the money supply, leading to what Paul refers to as the "inflation tax. The United States House Committee on Financial Services (or House Banking Committee) oversees the entire financial services industry including the securities insurance banking In economics inflation or price inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services over a period of time "[17] However, many professional economists argued that failure to have lowered the Fed's target rate would have contributed far more significantly to recession, and urged Bernanke (and the rest of the Federal Open Market Committee) to lower the rate beyond what it had done. A recession is a contraction phase of the Business cycle. The U The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC a component of the Federal Reserve System, is charged under U For example, Lawrence H. Summers, the Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Economics at Harvard and former Treasury Secretary, wrote in the Financial Times on November 26, 2007 - in a column in which he argued that recession was likely - that ". Lawrence Henry "Larry" Summers (born November 30, 1954) is an American Economist and academic . . . maintaining demand must be the over-arching macro-economic priority. That means the Federal Reserve System has to get ahead of the curve and recognize - as the market already has - that levels of the Federal Funds rate that were neutral when the financial system was working normally are quite contractionary today. " [18]

David Leonhardt of the New York Times wrote, on January 30, 2008, that "Mr. Bernanke’s forecasts have been too sunny over the last six months. [On] the other hand, his forecast was a lot better than Wall Street’s in mid-2006. Back then, he resisted calls for further interest rate increases because he thought the economy might be weakening. He was dead-on right about that — and the situation would be even worse now if he had listened to his critics then. " [19] Bernanke has since made several interest rate cuts in an effort to stabilize a shaky U. S. economy.

On March 16, 2008, JPMorgan Chase announced its intention to acquire Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns Inc. JPMorgan Chase & Co ( is the largest Banking institution in the United States by deposits and market capitalization and is one of the oldest operating The Bear Stearns Companies Inc, based in New York City, was one of the largest global Investment banks and securities trading and brokerage The proposed purchase is controversial, due to the unprecedented involvement of Bernanke's Federal Reserve System. JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay 236 million dollars, but shortly after the deal was announced, the Federal Reserve System confirmed that in a complex package of debt securitization agreements, they were underwriting the deal for around 30 billion dollars.

Awards and fellowships

Bibliography

References in Popular Culture

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Bernanke's first name is Ben, not Benjamin; it is not an abbreviated name. The " Greenspan Put " refers to the monetary policy that Alan Greenspan, the former Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve Board, and the (ref: "Big Ben", Slate, October 24, 2005); pronounced \ber-NAN-kee\, \bər-'nan-kē\ or \bɚ. ˈnæn. ki\)
  2. ^ Bernanke's middle name is Shalom. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/nominations/106.html
  3. ^ USATODAY.com - New Fed chief will face an economy with issues
  4. ^ [1] Bernanke's mother often worked there as well, having given up her job as a schoolteacher when he was born, and Bernanke himself also assisted from time to time. [http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2006/20060901/default.htm
  5. ^ Ben White (November 15, 2005). Events 655 - Battle of Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Bernanke Unwrapped. The Washington Post. The Washington Post is the largest and most circulated Newspaper in Washington D Retrieved on 2008-01-15. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah 's reign
  6. ^ Next Fed chief: smartest ever? | csmonitor.com
  7. ^ John M. Broder (August 20, 2007). Events 636 - Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take control of Syria and Palestine Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. In First Crisis on the Job, Bernanke’s About-Face Is Weighed. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-03-15. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 44 BC - Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus,
  8. ^ Bernanke's Ph.D. thesis. Retrieved on 2008-04-12. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 467 - Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
  9. ^ [2]Bernanke Biography
  10. ^ FRB Speech, Bernanke - On Milton Friedman's ninetieth birthday - November 8, 2002
  11. ^ To Fill His Shoes, Mr. Bernanke, Learn to Dance
  12. ^ Inside The Federal Reserve
  13. ^ a b Speech, Bernanke -Deflation- November 21, 2002
  14. ^ Lowenstein, Roger (2008-01-20), “The Education of Ben Bernanke”, The New York Times, <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/magazine/20Ben-Bernanke-t.html> 
  15. ^ Fed Chief Calls His Remarks A Mistake
  16. ^ [3]I don’t want to go back to the gold standards there’s a better. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 250 - Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. . . standard. -Ron Paul July 14th, 2007 Candidates@Google 25:30
  17. ^ Paul vs. Bernanke on Value of the Dollar. ABC News (December 13, 2007). This article is about the American news organization See also ABC News (disambiguation ABC News is a division of American Events 1294 - Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months Celestine hoped to return to his previous life Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Retrieved on 2008-01-15. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah 's reign
  18. ^ Larry Summers in Financial Times.
  19. ^ "Bernanke's Midterm Tests" by David Leonhardt, The New York Times, Jan. 30, 2008.
  20. ^ Columbia Business School Annual Dinner. Retrieved on 2008-05-08. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 589 - Reccared summons the Third Council of Toledo 1450 - Jack Cade's Rebellion: Kentishmen

References

External links

Preceded by
Alan Greenspan		 Chairman of the Federal Reserve
2006 – present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
John E. Potter		 United States order of precedence
as of 2006		 Succeeded by
James Connaughton
Preceded by
Harvey S. Rosen		 Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
2005-2006		 Succeeded by
Edward Lazear
The New York Times Magazine is a supplement to the Sunday The New York Times newspaper Foreign Policy is a bimonthly American Magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P The Economist is an English-language weekly news and International affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd and edited in London Alan Greenspan (born March 6 1926 in New York City) is an American Economist and was from 1987 to 2006 the Chairman of the Federal Reserve of The Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the head of the central banking system of the United States and one of the most John E Potter is the current United States Postmaster General and CEO of the United States Postal Service, becoming the 72nd Postmaster General on The United States Order of precedence is a nominal and symbolic hierarchy of important positions within the government of the United States. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. James Laurence Connaughton (born May 1961 a presidential appointee in the administration of George W Harvey S Rosen is the John L Weinberg Professor of Economics and Business Policy at Princeton University. The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA is a group of Economists who advise the President of the United States. Edward Paul "Ed" Lazear (born 1948 is an award-winning American economist, considered the founder of Personnel economics, and is the chief economic
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