It was the toughest public questioning of a chairperson of the central bank since the end of the last decade, due to the discomfort with the role played by the sometimes secretive Fed since the beginning of the financial crisis and a popular uprising against the government’s relief that the Fed helped to lead. The controversy that has been built around the involvement of the Fed may subject the chairman to the kind of political pressure that he resisted for decades.
For many lawmakers, the saga of Bank of America became a symbol of their greatest frustrations. this was a new experience for trading for dummies as the government actively became an investor in publicly trading companies. Critics on the right, especially House Republicans have long critical of the powers of the Fed, said the central bank intervened aggressively in the private sector too. Left critics say he was too opaque in their actions.
Bernanke’s term of office expires on January 31 and U.S. President, Barack Obama, has to decide whether to appoint another four years. Obama praised Bernanke and spokesman Robert Gibbs White House reiterated its support for the president yesterday, but the tough questioning from Congress adds a new hurdle, since any central bank chief would need to be confirmed by parliament.