TIME's Person of the Year

[Michael]

http://img.timeinc.net/time/2009/poy_2009/shalom_touts/hfs_shalom_a.jpg

No surprise really, and nothing to celebrate either. Ben Bernanke.

TIME (http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1946375_1947251,00.html)

Well, given that I think this bastard ought to have been fired or not re-appointed at the very least, I think this is a terrible choice. Bernanke personifies everything that got the USA into the economic mess that it is in.

In that respect, Bernanke is the ideal person for this award. Unfortunately, this award says more about America than it does about Bernanke.

The good ship Titanic is not willing to even consider the possibility of icebergs. Captain Bernanke will make sure of that. Nothing in Washington has changed. More of the same. And TIME celebrates that.

Bottom line is that unemployment has risen about 40% in the last twelve months and there's not a damn thing that Bernanke is willing to do to address that. Bernanke serves the interests of Wall Street and that's all there is to it. I hope you like your 10% unemployment rate - Ben Bernanke is working hard to keep it that way. Afterall, someone has to suffer when a crisis hits. Better it is the plebes than the patricians on Wall Street. That's the American way apparently. And TIME celebrates that.

[Americano]

Here are a couple of other memorable Time Magazine's "Person of the Year"

http://www.time.com/time/personoftheyear/archive/covers/1939.html

http://www.time.com/time/personoftheyear/archive/covers/1938.html

[Zarquon]

Person of the year is not an appreciation, it is acknowledgment of the most important/news-making and consequential person in an year.
And I've hear everyone from GQ to WaPo rave about his analysis and knowledge of the depression, and the radical measures he undertook to prevent a repeat of it last year.

[Americano]

Person of the year is not an appreciation, it is acknowledgment of the most important/news-making and consequential person in an year.
And I've hear everyone from GQ to WaPo rave about his analysis and knowledge of the depression, and the radical measures he undertook to prevent a repeat of it last year.

One of the few domestic issues that still interests me would be seeing a consolidated, detailed Fed balance sheet spread for say the past decade.

[Michael]

And I've hear everyone from GQ to WaPo rave about his analysis and knowledge of the depression, and the radical measures he undertook to prevent a repeat of it last year.
Really?

Helicopter Ben just did exactly what he said said he would do (no matter what the circumstances or fallout). Doesn't take a brain surgeon to give away lots of free money.

And Bernanke was wrong last year (and he's still wrong now). The financial crisis was not a "liquidity crisis". Pretending that it was has been very profitable for Wall Street (and very damaging to Main Street).

But the banksters and maintaining the status quo are more important than anything. That's why Ben's the man.

[wphelan]

I will gladly pile on the criticism of Bernake if anyone wants me to, but there's no doubt he's been one of the most influential people of this year. I don't really know what Time's person of the year is supposed to represent, but if it is acknowledging the impact a person has had on the world, then Bernake has to be a top choice.

In the last year, as Fed chairman, he has created and given away hundreds of billions of dollars in an effort to prop up an irreparable financial system. He's allowed the fabulously rich to remain fabulously rich, and in doing so has somehow garnered recognition as the man who 'saved the world' from a disastrous financial meltdown. All this he has done while unemployment is probably approaching twenty percent (numbers the government would never report given the way the 'official' number is manipulated).

He also claims inflation is under control as health care costs continue to march upward, college tuition increasingly leaves students with more and more debt, and the average person's purchasing power continues to decline.

Bernake, like previous Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, is being lavished with praise by main stream media. Like Greenspan, Bernake is reported to be some kind of economic wunderkind.

Of course, Greenspan's reign as chairman has received increasing criticism as the effects of his super low interest rate policy are (excruciatingly) slowly being understood. Maybe Bernake will be similarly criticized in the future when the long-term effects of his policies are better understood, but there's no doubt the man has dramatically affected US and world economics in the last year.

http://www.shadowstats.com/

[Zarquon]

Person of the Year is an annual issue of the United States newsmagazine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsmagazine) Time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_%28magazine%29) that features and profiles a man, woman, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that "for better or for worse, ...has done the most to influence the events of the year
Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_of_the_year)

[Michael]

So what has Bernanke done in 2009 to warrant this?

All of Bernanke's actions were done in 2008. He ain't done nothing in 2009 but "hold the course" since then (and get criticized for this policy).

If anything, 2009 was another Greenspan year. It was his actions that made 2009 what it was.

[Zarquon]

So what has Bernanke done in 2009 to warrant this?

All of Bernanke's actions were done in 2008. He ain't done nothing in 2009 but "hold the course" since then (and get criticized for this policy).

If anything, 2009 was another Greenspan year. It was his actions that made 2009 what it was.
they wasted 2008 on Obama, so they are making up for this year, and according to them the consequences of his actions are more apparent.

[Michael]

they wasted 2008 on Obama, so they are making up for this year, and according to them the consequences of his actions are more apparent.

:rofl:

So that bit you quoted above...

Person of the Year is an annual issue of the United States newsmagazine Time that features and profiles a man, woman, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that "for better or for worse, ...has done the most to influence the events of the year
Is just bullshit eh?

(Its not you I'm accusing of bullshit - it is TIME).

As I noted above, Bernanke hasn't done nothing in 2009.

[Americano]

:rofl:

So that bit you quoted above...


Is just bullshit eh?

(Its not you I'm accusing of bullshit - it is TIME).

As I noted above, Bernanke hasn't done nothing in 2009.

Honoring or recognizing Helicopter Ben is imo not unlike honoring a soldier who feeds ammunition into a machine gun used for genocide.

[Michael]

Honoring or recognizing Helicopter Ben is imo not unlike honoring a soldier who feeds ammunition into a machine gun used for genocide.
Yes, one needs to propagate symbolic competence upon Ben at this time - given that he's presently serving the interests of the billionaires, a bit of PR in his favor is in order.