Ben S. Bernanke ’75 once joked that his main talent was “taking the SATs” according to a colleague, but it seems that he can hold his own in economics as well.

On April 1, President Bush announced the nomination of Bernanke to be the next Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA).

Bush’s decision has reinforced the view of many that Bernanke—a current Governor of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board and a graduate of both Harvard and MIT—is the top contender to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, whose term ends Jan. 31, 2006.

Although Bernanke says he is unable to grant interviews prior to his CEA confirmation hearing, those economists who have taught and worked with Bernanke describe him as a “mild mannered” family man with a passion for the Boston Red Sox who has consistently excelled in the field of economics due to his independent thought and skill at public speaking.

“I would sleep comfortably if he was the Fed Chairman,” says New York University Economics Department Chair Mark Gertler, who has worked with Bernanke in the past. “He’s eminently qualified.”

“OFF ON HIS OWN”

As a member of the Fed’s governing body, Bernanke has become a leading proponent of an idea known as “inflation targeting” that some say would improve the stability of the monetary system.

A switch to this policy could be one of Bernanke’s biggest initiatives if he becomes the next Fed Chair.

Under inflation targeting, the Federal Reserve would publicly announce a level of inflation it is trying to achieve, instead of its current policy of striving for low inflation without naming a specific target.

Inflation targeting is practiced by the Bank of England but not in the United States, in part because “Greenspan has always been very much against inflation targeting,” says Morris University Professor Dale W. Jorgenson.

In a June 2004 interview with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Bernanke explained what he saw as the benefits of inflation targeting, among them that articulating a specific goal for inflation would help people better plan their long-term economic decisions.

Many economists are still opposed to or uncertain about inflation targeting, but Jorgenson says that Bernanke’s ability to remain a credible source in Washington while promoting such a policy shows his strength as an independent thinker and his ability to explain his ideas.

“Bernanke has gone off on his own and still retained the confidence of the President,” says Jorgenson.

“A SUPERSTAR IN EVERY DIMENSION”

Born in Augusta, Ga. on Dec. 13, 1953, Ben Shalom Bernanke attended a public high school in Dillon, S.C., a small town along Interstate 95 near the North Carolina border.