Ben Bernanke would like you to believe he is superman.
In the grandest self-serving article in history, Ben Bernanke wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal How the Fed Saved the Economy.
Not once did Bernanke comment on who created the crisis. Not once did Bernanke self-assess as to his own shortcomings.
The truth of the matter is Ben Bernanke is attempting to re-write history.
Bernanke: Why are we still listening to this guy?
The following video should make people think twice about listening to anything that Chairmen of the Fed Ben Bernanke says. It's a compilation of statements he made from 2005-2007 that will have your head spinning. Please play!
Link if video does not play: Ben Bernanke - Why are we still listening?
The answer to why we are listening should be obvious: Wall Street is enamored with and bows to power. It does not matter one bit how economically illiterate those in power may be.
Superman or Fool?
So, is Bernanke a superman or a fool?
Actually, Ben Bernanke is a very bright man. He sees a chance to sway public opinion and is doing it.
However, Bernanke cannot and will not self-assess. He will not admit that absurd Fed policies helped span the dot-com bubble and 100% created the housing bubble.
Instead he writes a book that may as well be entitled "Ben Bernanke, Superman: My Biography".
This is an attempt to lay the blame for whatever happens next on Janet Yellen. But she may be forced to step down before the next crisis hits.
I wrote about that on September 26 in How Long Will Janet Yellen Last as Fed Chair? Fed Declines to Comment on Her Health, I Will.
One reader commented I should not be so cold about this. There is nothing cold here, just the simple truth that Yellen is in poor health.
Twice Removed
So here we are. Bernanke is no longer Fed chair, and assuming Yellen lasts long enough to hike, Bernanke has a scapegoat. Better yet for Bernanke, if Yellen steps down, Bernanke will be twice removed as Fed chair.
He sees an opportunity to whitewash his hands and he just took it. Is there a better way to kick off the offense than writing a self-serving, pompous op-ed in the WSJ?
Don't buy his book. History will not be so kind.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
