Date:15/12/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/12/15/stories/2005121500771000.htm

Back New US Fed Chairman

This is with reference to the article `Getting out of the Greenspan groove' (Business Line, December 9): The new Federal Reserve Board Chairman will be taking charge at a time when the US economy is beset by the twin worries of towering budget and trade deficits.

Dr Ben Bernanke, however, knows his economic `onions' well as seen in one of his statements made earlier as a member of the Fed Reserve: "Economics is a very difficult subject. I've compared it to trying to learn how to repair a car when the engine is running".

The author has pointedly observed that the ripple effects of what the US Fed Chairman says or does, for good or bad, will be global. The US is watching anxiously how Mr Bernanke will handle the `housing bubble', created by his illustrious predecessor, Mr Alan Greenspan, which is now in danger of bursting.

Kangayam R. Rangaswamy

Wisconsin (US)

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