Bernanke, Ben Shalom

Bernanke, Ben Shalom (bernăngk'ē) [key], 1953–, U.S. economist and government official, b. Augusta, Ga.; grad. Harvard (B.A., 1975), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Ph.D., 1979). He was a professor of economics at Stanford Univ. (1979–85) and Princeton (1985–2002) before serving (2003–5) as a member of the Federal Reserve's board of governors. An authority on monetary policy, he became (2005) chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush. In 2006 Bernanke succeeded Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Regarded originally as favoring consistency and clarity in central banking, he was seen as innovative and flexible in his approach to U.S. banking problems resulting from the mortgage and credit crises that began in 2007.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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