Barney Frank Reacts To Time Person Of The Year Ben Bernanke

Warning: viewers of certain cable news programs that have blamed the nation’s recent economic problems on Barney Frank may not want to watch this video for fear that one’s head might explode. MSNBC anchor (and Alan Greenspan spouse) Andrea Mitchell had Congressman Frank on to discuss Time Magazine’s naming of Ben Bernanke as Person of the Year.

An otherwise tepid interview started out fairly interesting, when Frank said of his reaction to the Time honor, “I hope you won’t be offended. I think the average elected official has as much regard for the media as the CEOs had for the President. There is not a lot of love from here to there.” Snap!

Text of the dialogue can be found here:

Andrea Mitchell: I want to give you a chance to react to the fact that Ben Bernanke is Time‘s Person of the Year. A really big deal. Obviously he has bigger issues to challenging the Fed now — they have a policy making meeting — they will set rates or not change rates or do whatever they are going to do around 2:00 this afternoon, But he has his confirmation hearing today. I know that’s the other body of the senate. but do you think that this might overcome some of the objections?

Barney Frank (interrupting): No.

Mitchell: There’s been a hold put on it by Bernie Sanders and others….

Frank: Well, let me say this. I hope you won’t be offended. I think the average elected official has as much regard for the media as the CEOs had for the President. There is not a lot of love from here to there

Mitchell: Point well taken.

Frank: What the Time says, I believe that Ben Bernanke made one mistake. last year. When in — rushing to the aid of AIG along with Hank Paulson and George Bush’s direction, this was in the bush years, they were afraid after Lehman brothers failed and paid nobody any of the debts, that a similar activity with AIG would have literally destroyed the economy by ending all ending. They were probably right, and he then had to rush in and help AIG. He should have, as we did later when the Secretary of Treasury came to us about the top money said okay, I’m going to put some restrictions on compensation, et cetera. He did make that one mistake. Since then, I think he has been creative and thoughtful. And, yes, he had an impact and I think it has been basically favorable one.

Mitchell: Indeed, it has as a scholar of the depression made sure that at least he was pumping in enough money and doing creative things to try to prevent the recession from becoming a depression.

Frank: We have a political — things are clearly a lot better off than they would have been. But you — you know, if you are an economist, you can put forward what is called the counter-factual and show how certain set of things made things better and that’s very important. when you are in government, politics, saying that things would have been a lot worse without me when they are still not very good is problematic. I think things are starting to turn around. i think you will con to see better job numbers and show me the case what they did and start of the Bush administration and it was continuity of the Obama administration, the worst crisis was avoided. Now, I — people who are culpable for letting the crisis happened beforehand, but once the crisis happened, I think the response has been a good one.

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