Obama to nominate Bernanke for second term
US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, widely credited with taking aggressive action to avert an economic catastrophe after the financial meltdown last autumn, will be nominated by President Barack Obama for a second term.
Mr Obama plans to make the announcement today during a break from his holiday on Martha’s Vineyard.
A senior administration official discussed the nomination on the condition of anonymity because it was not yet public.
In remarks prepared for the announcement, Mr Obama praised Mr Bernanke for leading the country through the meltdown and, with his expertise on the Great Depression, helping to prevent a crisis rivalling that of the 1930s.
“Ben approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom, with bold action and outside-the-box thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic free-fall,” Mr Obama said in prepared remarks.
In sticking with Mr Bernanke, Mr Obama is looking to reassure the financial sector as well as foreign central banks that his administration has no plans to change course on its largely well-received approach to rescuing the industry from its meltdown or its management of overall monetary policy.
Mr Bernanke has won admiration from Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill even as some politicians have urged him to retain the Fed’s independence and warned him not to become too cosy with the administration.
Any move to replace Mr Bernanke could have been perceived as injecting politics into the Fed, especially if Mr Obama had turned to Lawrence Summers, his top economic adviser, as Mr Bernanke’s replacement.
