Some of Bernake's critics were Obama's voters

Bernanke is willing to lead the Fed into taking several steps if the economy continues its downward trending.

I. Generational
Brooklyn

It's a funny thing about capitalists: they say that they believe in markets. They say that prices should be allowed to float, reflecting the forces of supply and demand.

But, as it turns out, they only believe this when prices are floating upward. Prices trend down, and suddenly its time for a bailout. Federal Reserve, Banks & Wall Street - It's always the same story: privatize the gains and socialize the losses. Make the little guy pay for the bad investment decisions of major corporations and wealthy individuals.

I, for one, would like to see prices trend down for a few months or years. It would help re-align prices with my paycheck.

Jacob Olsson
New York

There's nothing they can do now. At the start of the crisis, the U.S. had a choice: the road to Sweden or the road to Japan. The first one entailed firing the bankers, bleeding the shareholders, regulating the industry and plan for a new future for the country. The second one entailed saving zombie banks at any cost, propping up banker bonuses, country and future be damned.

times
Houston, TX

Bernanke doesn't know the wires are cut in the wall behind the control box. He keeps turning the knob but nothing happens. This is what happens when the president decides to do Wall Street's bidding and reappoints a loser to run the Fed. Bernanke, that great student of the Great Depression, learned his lesson well and is leading us into another one. Why is that we have the same bureaucrats, who orchestrated the demise of economy, like Bernanke and Geithner, running it? It's called a plutocracy: government by and for the wealthy ruling class. Wake up, America.

brian
egmont key

prop up the economy or prop up wallstreet?

we must break this "stockholm syndrome" with wallstreet.
dump your stocks and save your dough before wallstreet gets a chance to say,"oh so sorry, we lost your money ," once again

Libertarian
West Chester, PA

We are taught that prices are information about supply and demand. This amounts to the Fed manipulating information. They are trying to hide the fact that we have moved jobs overseas and the middle class can no longer afford their recent lifestyle.

1. End the wars and close overseas bases. Use the money to pay down the debt and build infrastructure.
2. Impose tariffs to bring back jobs. Set tariffs based on wage differential so that our workers are competing on productivity, not wages with those in developing countries.
3. Pass Amendment to end personhood of corporations. Only human citizens should be allowed to participate in our politics.

MS O
Berkeley, CA

The problem is that the core of the American economy was destroyed with the exportation of middle class jobs to China, India and other countries where $129/month for 12 hour days and a six day work week is the norm and where child labor is still legal.

The United States could bring things back by imposing a value added tax of 25% on all goods imported by "American" corporations as "American" products. This tax should be imposed on oil first.

Until people realize that feeding the greed of the super rick is not a sound economic policy there will be no recovery. Wall Street represents corporations with a single goal, the accumulation of wealth. This wealth is not "American" wealth it is international wealth. The profits are not returned to the United States but are invested overseas to avoid any possibility of paying any of the taxes which support the American military which, of course, is expected to rescue their investments when things turn nasty.