Members of the Dartmouth community are reacting with optimism to the appointment of Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.
President George W. Bush appointed Bernanke, who has served as the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors since June 2005, to the Fed chairmanship on Monday. Pending approval by the Senate, Bernanke should assume office in February 2006 replacing retiring Fed Chief Alan Greenspan.
Bernanke is a macroeconomist and has served as an economics professor at Princeton University and a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Bernanke initially appears to be receiving bipartisan support, and members of the Dartmouth community who have been affiliated with the CEA have praised him strongly.
Economics professor Andrew Samwick served as the chief economist at the CEA from July 2003 to June 2004. Although his tenure at the CEA did not overlap with that of Bernanke's, he supports the appointment.
"Bernanke is an excellent choice," Samwick wrote on his weblog. "It will be interesting to see how the Fed now implements his ideas about more transparency in the Fed's communications with financial markets."
Kenny Gillingham '02 worked as a fellow at the CEA between his first and second years of graduate school at Stanford University and collaborated with Bernanke on several issues.
"He's a really sharp guy, probably one of the brightest I've ever met," Gillingham said. "It was impressive at how quickly he could jump from a technical conversation on one issue to another conversation about the details of a completely different issue."
Gillingham noted that not only was Bernanke extremely knowledgeable about economic issues, it was also enjoyable working with him.
"He is a personable, friendly person, with a good sense of humor," Gillingham said. "I was surprised and impressed one Friday afternoon when he even came out to a happy hour with a mix of the junior and senior staff."
Katherine Baicker, who taught economics at Dartmouth until this year, and Matthew Slaughter, an associate professor of business administration at the Tuck School of Business, had their hearings to be appointed as members of the CEA on Tuesday. They will serve as CEA consultants until confirmed as members.
Sarena Goodman '05 is currently serving as a research assistant for the CEA.