Other views: Bernanke was right, safe choice

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President Barack Obama’s decision to reappoint Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman has been criticized as being the “safe choice.” But “safe” is what we want.

Bernanke is one of the chief architects of the strategy to pull the country out of recession, which seems to be working, even if not as fast as most would like, and it makes sense to let him see it through. He is generally credited with yanking the country back from the brink of depression.

His re-nomination provides continuity and keeps together a team that has worked well together, Obama’s Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, and chief economic adviser, Christina Romer.

The White House and congressional budget offices released an estimate of a record deficit this year of $1.6 trillion. The White House forecasts a 10-year cumulative deficit of $9 trillion. Both see unemployment peaking at 10 percent and averaging 9.8 percent in 2010, a half-point higher than this year. Both foresee a long, slow recovery. Chairman Bernanke, you have your work cut out for you.

Tags: other views, federal reserve, opinion, editorials, obama, bernanke