Thank you for Your Service

This is what needs to be said about Ben Bernanke. Based on his academic record, he was the best possible person for the job. Most people don't realize this. A scholar of the Great Depression, with generally correct opinions, just happened to be Fed chairperson for the biggest crisis since the Great Depression. 

But under Bernanke's chairmanship, Fed policy has been tame and disappointing relative to his academic record. However, he is just one person, in an institution designed to prevent any one person from having too much power. The structure of the Fed does an good job of representing the consensus in economics, which has been too timid. Yet today we have an unprecedented Fed policy that, while not the best it could be, was fairly radical for an institution that changes slowly over time.

In a way I am reminded of Fredrick Douglas eulogizing Lincoln (I know this situation pales in comparison to Lincoln, but still):

"Viewed from the genuine abolition ground, Mr. Lincoln seemed tardy, cold, dull, and indifferent; but measuring him by the sentiment of his country, a sentiment he was bound as a statesman to consult, he was swift, zealous, radical, and determined."