Bernanke's critics are beginning to chirp

Not everyone is thrilled with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s re-nomination to a second term at the Fed, and Columbia Journalism Review blogger Ryan Chittum has begun to chronicle the critics. He describes Breakingviews’ arguments against keeping Bernanke, and summarizes a disapproving op-ed by Stephen Roach, a Morgan Stanley executive, in today’s Financial Times. Thos two naysayers aren’t alone. Amar Bhide, a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, sparred yesterday on CNBC with Roger Altman, a former Deputy Treasury Secretary.

The arguments focus Bernanke’s ties to the Fed as it was run by former Chairman Alan Greenspan, and on the Fed’s initial indolence in the areas of oversight and consumer protection. They aren’t terribly new,  but it will be interesting to watch how persistent they prove to be over the coming weeks as the Senate takes up the nomination.