Monday, November 30, 2009

Bernanke Tops List of 100 Global Thinkers

Just in time for this weeks Senate confirmation hearings, the establishment has spoken. Foreign Policy magazine has announced that Ben Bernanke is the top "global thinker" in 2009.

FP writes:
The Zen-like chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve might not have topped the list solely for turning his superb academic career into a blueprint for action, for single-handedly reinventing the role of a central bank, or for preventing the collapse of the U.S. economy. But to have done all of these within the span of a few months is certainly one of the greatest intellectual feats of recent years.
President Obama came in #2.

Ranked fourth was Nouriel Roubini, followed by Larry Summers at 14 and Mohamed El-Erian, the director of Pimco, at 16.

FP is published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

UPDATE: FP's web site has appeared to have crashed following news of Bernanke being named to the top of FP's 100 Global Thinkers list. Get it? Crash-Bernanke.

3 comments:

  1. Bernanke at the top of the list? I almost spit up my coffee after reading that.

    I mean, really, that's pretty damn funny. He only missed spotting one of the biggest asset bubbles in history. A bubble, that if you know anything about economics, puts him, his pal Greenspan, and their precious central bank at the center of the storm.

    Also, I wonder how many of the people on the list are from Goldman Sachs?

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  2. I'm not sure this article supports zen Ben.

    "The central bank reserves the right to use its discretion in awarding these loans requests, and not all securities that satisfy its terms may qualify for the loan.

    This time, the Fed unexpectedly rejected three securities without any explanations. Participants already confused by previous rejections, were even more puzzled by this one since the Fed rejected bonds it had previously bought."

    http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200911270940DOWJONESDJONLINE000485_FORTUNE5.htm

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  3. FP's consistency mitigates its stupidity.

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