Bernanke Breaks the Law. His Own.

Thursday December 3 is the date of both the President's Jobs Summit and the reconfirmation hearing of Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke. We should seize the opportunity to examine the statute that creates the Federal Reserve:

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Open Market Committee shall maintain long run growth of the monetary and credit aggregates commensurate with the economy's long run potential to increase production, so as to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.

The jobs question doesn't need to stay at the President's Summit. It can be included right in Bernanke's reappointment hearing.

You don't need to be a lawyer to question how he's doing at promoting "maximum employment." You don't need to be an unemployed steelworker to wonder whether "increase production" means import more (subsidized, currency manipulated, unsafe) stuff from China.

It's Bernanke's own hearing. We should assess how he's doing under his own law.

-- Dean Baker says he should be fired.
-- The Cunning Realist provides questions to ask.
-- Audit the Fed wants to know what he did with our money.
-- I provide overview here, while Bob Borosage casts his doubts.