The Devil We Know

08-27-2009 • Lew Rockwell

What this country needs is a Fed Chairman that is immensely unpopular, backed by a courageous President. Under Paul Volcker and Ronald Reagan, this model proved effective at avoiding a complete economic collapse in the early 1980's. In case posterity's resounding approval has clouded anyone's memory, Volcker was vilified and threatened with impeachment at the height of that crisis. Reagan's decision to stand behind Volcker allowed the Chairman to persevere. It has never been popular to be responsible. Only after the markets settled and the country experienced twenty years of prosperity was history's final judgment made about Volcker. Bernanke's re-nomination is a politically safe decision for President Obama, and at least Bernanke is a devil we know. However, this lack of a "change" for the better should squash any "hope" for a genuine recovery. If the Bush years were as bad as the Democrats claim, then it is curious that they are mimickin