The Baseline Scenario recommends PAUL KRUGMAN for the Fed. And with a straight face, no less:
The danger here is uncertainty – the markets fear a prolonged policy vacuum. Fortunately, there is a way to address this. Ben Bernanke should withdraw and the president should nominate Paul Krugman to take his place.
The ironic thing is that although Krugman is a willfully ignorant Neo-Keynesian who couldn’t correctly predict the sun rising tomorrow, he would still be a better choice than permitting Ben Bernanke to destroy the tattered remnants of the American economy in order to delay the liquidation of the zombie banks.
I don’t care if Bernanke is reconfirmed or not. Should he be? Of course not. He’s been an unmitigated disaster; only Greenspan was worse. But as Calculated Risk correctly points out, it’s not really a question of the right man for the job, but the right man for the job in the eyes of the bankers and politicians who created the current mess. You can count on one thing regardless of whether Bernanke is kicked out or not; anyone capable of being confirmed is not the right man for the job.