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Ben Bernanke

October 2024

Deserted cities: most do not understand that inflation was caused by the stimulus that saved them in the pandemic.

Why the RBA has a massive public education job to do

Inflation is high because of the stimulus that Canberra and the RBA poured on in the pandemic. But the public struggles to understand this.

  • Michael Stutchbury

April 2024

Former US Fed chairman Ben Bernanke put it bluntly: “It’s important to have people in key areas [who] understand the details and can stand up to an MPC member and say: ‘no, you’re wrong’.”

How ‘flamethrowers’ and creaking IT burnt the Bank of England

For more than three decades, the BoE has used fan charts to visualise the uncertainty surrounding its forecasts. As Ben Bernanke pointed out, most people have no idea what they mean.

  • Tim Wallace and Szu Ping Chan
The Bank of England.

Bernanke tips BoE towards ‘scenario forecasts’ over Fed dot plots

This week, the former Fed chairman is expected to suggest the Bank of England adopt something new to update its forecasting process and repair its battered reputation.

  • Philip Aldrick

December 2023

China

China faces the risk of a debt-deflation spiral

If deflation continues to eat into corporate profits, companies will cut wage growth, creating a vicious ‘loop’ of even weaker aggregate demand and deflation.

  • Chetan Ahy

July 2023

Former US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke in 2017.

BoE names former Fed boss Bernanke to review its forecasting record

The review will allow the bank to reflect on where to adapt to in “a world in which we increasingly face significant uncertainty”, its governor said.

  • Jill Namatsi and Lucy White
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June 2023

Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the Federal Reserve.

What is the new normal for rates, and when do we get there?

Ben Bernanke went a bridge too far in monetary policy after the 2008 financial crisis. We are now paying the price in a new inflationary world.

  • Stephen Grenville

May 2023

‘It’s a long way from Melbourne to New York’: James Gorman has been Morgan Stanley chief executive since

The Aussie who transformed Morgan Stanley, deal by deal

James Gorman is standing down as chief executive after more than a decade heading one of the world’s biggest investment banks. Three contenders are vying for his job.

  • Lananh Nguyen

April 2023

Kazuo Ueda, governor of the Bank of Japan , arrives at the central bank’s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday.

Ueda kicks off first change of BoJ governorship in a decade

As the first academic to head the 140-year-old institution, Kazuo Ueda has so far struck a neutral tone on monetary policy.

  • Toru Fujioka and Sumio Ito

October 2022

Nuclear power stations in France.

Trickle-down misinformation

Short-term pain for long-term gain; Nuclear just a Coalition political play; Economics not such a Nobel calling; Stage three a bad idea in so many ways.

Bernanke shares Nobel Prize for crisis work

The former Fed chair helped to reshape how the world understands the relationship between lenders and financial crises.

  • Jeanna Smialek
Ben Bernanke.

Ben Bernanke wins Nobel for economics

Former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has shared the prize with two other US-based economists for research into the collapse of banks.

  • Paul Wiseman, David Keyton and Frank Jordans

June 2022

Who would want to be a central banker right now?

Central banks became enormously powerful after the global financial crisis. Now there are questions on whether they can do what is needed of them.

  • Howard Davies
This decision will put some people back in the jobless queue.

Oversized pay rise is somebody else’s job

Make no mistake. Fair Work’s decision will mean more people on JobSeeker and fewer on minimum wage

  • Richard Holden

April 2022

President George Bush names his top economic adviser, Ben Bernanke, right, to become the new chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, replacing Alan Greenspan, left, at the White House in Washington in October 2005.

The end of the global savings glut theory of low-interest rates

The only way for central banks ensure that inflation is temporary is to tighten their monetary policies, rather than clinging to old theories to justify their persisting with ultra-cheap money policies.

  • Jim O'Neill

February 2022

Philip Lowe’s performance at the National Press Club last week was a masterclass in clear thinking and communication.

RBA has got interest rates more right than wrong

There is no US-style inflation here, and the neutral rate of interest is now structurally lower. That’s a chance to keep a three in front of the jobless rate.

  • Richard Holden
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January 2022

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell. Market reactions have delayed the normalisation of monetary policy.

Interest rates to rise, markets correct

The question to be answered now is how much this unnaturally cheap money has distorted capital flows and how unruly is the correction.

  • The AFR View

A fascinating page-turner made from an unlikely subject

The Lords of Easy Money is a fascinating and propulsive story about the Federal Reserve — yes, you read that right

  • Jennifer Szalai

September 2021

Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe and his deputy, Guy Debelle. A price for holding rates too low.

No point keeping money so cheap

Holding down interest rates to make inflation rise is long past any usefulness. The best way to start the painful adjustment is to begin early.

  • Stephen Grenville

August 2021

Jay Powell has repeatedly signalled his preference for a slow and finely graduated evolution in policies.

Why Powell should be bold at Jackson Hole

The longer the Fed chairman waits to detail his thinking, the bigger the risk the central bank will be forced into a disorderly slamming of the policy brakes.

  • Mohamed El-Erian
Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell may reveal more of his thinking on the future of QE this week.

How QE became an addiction we must learn to break

Central bankers must underline that printing money was an emergency fix, not a routine solution to economic problems.

  • Stephen Grenville

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/person/ben-bernanke-24v