Barack Obama has rendered one of his most important post-crisis verdicts: Ben Bernanke will be nominated for a second term as chair of the Federal Reserve. This is a very shortsighted decision. While America's head central banker deserves credit for being creative and courageous in orchestrating an unusually aggressive monetary easing, it is important to remember that his pre-crisis actions played an equally critical role in setting the stage for the most wrenching recession since the 1930s. It is as if a doctor guilty of malpractice is being given credit for inventing a miracle cure. Maybe the patient needs a new doctor.
巴拉克?奧巴馬(Barack Obama)已做出了他在“后危機”時代的一項最重要的決定:提名本?伯南克(Ben Bernanke)連任美聯儲(Fed)主席。這是一項非常缺乏遠見的決定。盡管美國央行的掌門人理應因大膽而有創造性地實施異常激進的貨幣寬松政策而受到稱贊,但重要的是要記住一點:在為這場上世紀30年代以來最嚴重的衰退鋪路的過程中,伯南克在危機前的所作所為發揮了同樣關鍵的作用。這就好像一位犯有治療不當之過的醫生,正因發明了一種神奇療法而受到人們稱贊。或許,這位病人需要一位新醫生。