Bernanke Is One of the Most Consequential Central Bankers of All Time … The Federal Reserve has emerged as one of the most important government entities when it comes to the economy. Many economists credit the Fed with helping the economy recover from The Great Recession. But many politicians – primarily Republicans – criticize the central bank for overreaching and creating more problems in the long run. Yet every month when the jobs report is released, all eyes turn toward the Fed: Are the numbers weak enough to push the Fed to ease further? High enough for the Fed to tighten monetary policy? Or uncertain enough for the Fed to stay put? – The Daily Ticker

Dominant Social Theme: God among men?

Free-Market Analysis: The Fed may "stay put" but Ben Bernanke seems to be on his way out. We've written about this previously – as Bernanke himself has taken to saying that no one man is irreplaceable, least of all him.

But this provides those who value the institution of central banking with a conundrum. The economy is still in the doldrums and the programs that Bernanke himself put into place are still being implemented. In other words, what has begun is not yet done, and for Bernanke to walk away now will look a bit as if he is leaving unfinished business.

Central banks are enormously important to the current globalist agenda. Under no circumstances must they be seen to fail. While economies around the world ARE failing, this is never to be mentioned.

It is okay to point out that central banks have the wrong policies or are clumsy at implementing what is to be done. But there is never any question about the basics of the current system. Like water or air, central banks are to be seen as an immutable fact of life.

They are not, of course, and we even think the current model may be on the way out. But those charged with defending the current system must ignore this possibility – just as they must ignore what some consider to be Bernanke's basic blundering and general incompetence.

The trick, from a promotional standpoint, is to praise Bernanke for what he has accomplished while avoiding any conversation about the current state of the economy. Lionize Bernanke while ignoring the health of the actual subject. Here's the positioning we see in this article:

Irwin doubts that Bernanke wants a third term as chairman. "It's been a long seven-plus years."

Bernanke has served on the Fed Board of Governors since 2002 and was appointed chairman in 2006 and again in 2010. He will leave an admirable legacy, says Irwin.

"Ben Bernanke has proven himself to be a very able manager of the U.S. economy…He's one of the most consequential central bankers of all time," Irwin argues.

You see how the rhetoric reverses? It is admitted that Bernanke has faced "a long seven-plus years" – which is also a kind of admission that it hasn't been easy on either Bernanke or the economic system he leads. But then another statement is made immediately following this admission:

"He's one of the most consequential central bankers of all time."

Cleverly, this statement is not one that can be disputed. Here is a man capable of injecting US$16 trillion into the world's economy on a whim and then forgiving most of it when the recipients declined to pay back their "short term loans."

We've often written of the disastrous congressional appearances in which Fed employees revealed they could give no accounting of up to US$9 trillion that may or may not have been disbursed abroad.

In truth, the Fed – and Bernanke – seems to be making it up as they go along. And from our humble perspective that is because the "system" is inherently a manipulated one.

It is not like a free-market system that evolved with powerful competitive checks and balances. Central bankers like Bernanke can do just about anything they want to do, and then cover their tracks by maintaining that to reveal their secret money-printing would "destabilize" the economy.

The article concludes with Irwin stating, "We have seen Ben Bernanke willing to take the heat, have people yell at him about doing quantitative easing and do it anyway because he thinks it's the right thing for the U.S. economy."

We would certainly take issue with this last statement. The Fed is a creature of those who seek globalism and utilize the creative chaos of central banking to realize it. Bernanke has done what he's done because it is the "right thing" for his backers.

But in the process he's smashed the savings of tens of millions, presided over a Great Recession and is now presiding over the reflation of both equity and mortgage bubbles. The economy itself remains distorted because he has not allowed important financial elements to go bust. It is this record that must be defended and as it becomes clearer, the criticism of Bernanke will continue to grow.

Those who wish to defend him will seize on the boldness of his behavior in the face of the past decade's central banking disasters. Of course, this is a little bit like praising a race car driver for pressing down on the throttle. It is portrayed as an act of supreme intelligence and courage when actually it is a fairly simplistic exercise.

But what else can they say?