Friday, April 3, 2015

Fmr. Fed Chair Ben Bernanke Starts Blogging at Brookings

Former US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has started blogging at the Brookings Institution, where he is a Distinguished Fellow in Residence with the think tank's Economic Studies Program.

The blog, which is simply called "Ben Bernanke's Blog," only has a few posts so far but appears quite influential.  The Washington Post says that Bernanke might currently be having the "world's most important blog fight" with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers on low interest rates.  Here is more on that from Bloomberg.

[Larry Summers is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at competing think tank Center for American Progress (CAP), but he blogs elsewhere.]

Of course, the blog is also getting some pushback.  Here is what Bernanke should blog about.  Forbes has called the new blog "insightful."  NBC News asks if the blog is part of his mission.

Washington Post editorial cartoonist Tom Toles is not impressed, saying that the blog will just be "more background hum as we sleepwalk our way into our already manifest dystopian future."

Here is Bernanke's inaugural post, which states that now he is a civilian again, he can once again comment on economic and financial issues without his words being put under the microscope by Fed watchers.

So will Bernanke's blog be the most popular at Brookings?  According to the think tank's site, he is in competition with 14 other Brookings blogs, and that doesn't include one blog (Lawfare) that is offsite.

In other related Bernanke-think tank news, earlier this week he gave a keynote speech at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).