In 2002, Bernanke moved from Princeton to Washington, D.C. to take up a position as a Governor of the Federal Reserve Board.

“He and I had extensive discussions about the pros and cons of leaving the classroom, [but] he doesn’t regret his decision,” says Blinder, who served as Vice-Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1994 to 1996.

Bernanke’s colleagues praised his ability remain objective in the politically-charged Washington landscape.

“One of the most complimentary things I can say about Ben is that he was a colleague of ours at Princeton for years, and a close colleague of mine before I ever knew he was a Republican,” says Blinder. “If you just read his scholarship, there would be no way you could tell if he was a Republican or a Democrat.”

“He’s very calm and reasoned,” Grossman says.

Bernanke also has a keen ability to interact with the press and with politicians, his colleagues say.

“He has been a very effective public speaker in Washington,” says Rogoff.

“The reporters absolutely love him,” Gertler says. “He can actually explain what’s going on.”

“THE NATURAL SUCCESSOR”?

While Bernanke’s colleagues seem to agree that he would be a successful Fed Chair, they acknowledge that he is just one of a very strong field of contenders, which includes R. Glenn Hubbard, the dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, and Baker Professor of Economics Martin S. Feldstein ’61. (See related stories on Wednesday and Friday.)

Hubbard “was extremely effective in the first part of the Bush administration” when he was chairman of the CEA, says Jorgenson. “He had a big influence on tax policy.”

“Feldstein, of course, is one of the outstanding economists of our time,” adds Jorgenson. “He is the economist who is the closest to President Bush....He has a lot of credibility.”

But a number of colleagues say that Bernanke’s specific focus on monetary policy issues like inflation could distinguish him from the rest.

“They are all eminently qualified,” says Gertler, but “Glenn and Marty’s experience is more in tax policy.”

“Bernanke is much closer in terms of his intellectual interest to what the Fed actually does,” says Jorgenson.

Solow even said that among academics, Bernanke is “the natural successor to Greenspan”—and in a few months, the country will know if Bush agrees.

—Staff writer Evan H. Jacobs can be reached at ehjacobs@fas.harvard.edu.