Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, has given up on the Republican Party.
Bernanke served as chairman of the Fed starting in early 2006, appointed by the Bush/Cheney administration to succeed Alan Greenspan.
In Bernanke’s new book, The Courage to Act, the former chairman speaks out:
“I tried to listen carefully and accept thoughtful criticisms,” Bernanke wrote. “But it seemed to me that the crisis had helped to radicalize large parts of the Republican Party.”
Bernanke isn’t suddenly a Democrat, but he no longer associates himself with the GOP.
He says he “lost patience with Republicans’ susceptibility to the know-nothing-ism of the far right. I didn’t leave the Republican Party. I felt that the party left me.”
The break from the GOP isn’t too startling, as during his tenure, Bernanke at times pleaded with congressional Republicans whose policies seemed to be making the economy worse. GOP lawmakers always refused.
By the time 2013 rolled around and Republicans were furiously attempting to blame President Obama for the sluggish economic recovery, Ben Bernanke said quite directly that the biggest obstacle to stronger economic growth was the Republicans’ economic agenda.
GOP officials, all the while, tried to push Bernanke to stop trying to improve the economy via monetary policy.