Ben Bernanke
About
flag this descriptionBen Shalom Bernanke (pronounced /bərˈnænki/ bər-NAN-kee; born December 13, 1953) is an American economist, and the current Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve. Previously, he served as Fed Governor and Chairman of President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers. In 2009, he was named the TIME magazine person of the year.
Born in Augusta, Georgia, Bernanke was raised in a ranch-style house on East Jefferson Street in Dillon, South Carolina. His father Philip was a pharmacist and part-time theater manager, and his mother Edna was an elementary schoolteacher, although she gave it up once Ben was born. He is the eldest of three children, having a brother and sister. His younger brother, Seth, is a lawyer in Charlotte, North Carolina, and his younger sister, Sharon, is a longtime administrator at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
The Bernankes were one of the few Jewish families in the area, attending a local synagogue called Ohav Shalom; as a child, Bernanke learned Hebrew from his maternal grandfather Harold Friedman, who was a professional hazzan, shochet, and Hebrew teacher.
Full description of Ben Bernanke at Freebase
The unemployment rate is unacceptably high, creating real hardship for millions of Americans.
The fact that the economy is growing again doesn't mean we're where we ought to be
She'll be more concerned about Main Street and unemployment than about Wall Street and inflation
Lehman's available liquidity is central to the question of why Lehman failed
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