Dumb question, but wasn't Ben Bernanke in the Bush admin., too? Did he just automatically

[jenmito]

get to stay in the Obama admin.? I don't know how that worked.

[Ian David]

1. He didn't see his shadow on January 20th. n/t

[Honeycombe8]

9. LOL LOL! That was a good one. nt

[Thrill]

2. Yeah. He gets four yr terms. Gets appointed by the President

But isn't really apart of the administration. I think he just took over in 06. So his term isn't up. Remember the Fed is Independent. So you don't get to fire them

[jenmito]

3. Ah, ok. Thanks!

:hi:

[tritsofme]

4. Federal Reserve Chairmen serve 4 year terms

The next is up sometime next year.

The Federal Reserve is not a part of the Cabinet, and is independent from the federal government.

[jenmito]

5. Thanks to you, too!

:hi:

[Skink]

6. Even the Bush admin saw what was coming so they appointed somebody with qualifications.

Paulson was another crony but even he had qualifications.

[jenmito]

7. He DOES seem strangely qualified for a Bush appointee. n/t

[On the Road]

10. Check Out What Krugman Had to Say About Him

when he was nominated:

By Bush administration standards, the choice of Ben Bernanke to succeed Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve was just weird....

http://select.nytimes.com/2005/10/28/opinion/28krugman.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

For all the complaints about Bernanke here on DU, Bush's instincts were generally to pick blindly loyal cronies. We could easily have had a hack like Larry Lindsey or someone who would have plunged the country into chaos. Bernanke's academic specialty is deflationary recessions, which is exactly what we have now. You could argue he's one of the better possible choices.

[Zynx]

8. He is a holdover because the Fed is independent of electoral cycles.

Thank God for that. Ben Bernanke has done a good job of preventing even worse outcomes. Without his interventions in the Commercial Paper markets, the world would have practically ended by now.