Mr. Romney: Take Ben Bernanke’s Resignation On Day One

Townhall Finance – One of the latent issues of the 2012 presidential race is a referendum on the Bernanke Fed. If Romney is in, Bernanke is out. Jeffrey Bell, a colleague at American Principles In Action and a high octane analyst, observes, “It is crucial for Romney to invite Mr. Bernanke’s resignation immediately upon his inauguration rather than allowing him to serve out the remaining year of his term. There are substantial lags between changes in monetary policy, their effects on the financial markets, and their even later impact on the real economy. By replacing Bernanke immediately Romney would seize an invaluable opportunity to front-load an economic growth turbocharger, reaping dividends during his first administration….”

Pledging to replace Bernanke immediately during the campaign could dominate a news cycle. And the idea is not far afield. On October 1, in Romney Bashing Bernanke Rejects Adviser Mankiw’s Policy Views , Bloomberg News’s Joshua Zumbrun quietly dropped one of the biggest scoops of 2012:

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) — Mitt Romney is shunning the monetary policy views of one of his top advisers, Harvard University’s Greg Mankiw, who has expressed support for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and his record stimulus.Instead, the Republican presidential candidate has criticized the Fed in ways that echo the opinions of another adviser, John Taylor. The Stanford University professor and former Treasury Department official has said the Fed’s large- scale asset purchases risk debasing the dollar while failing to alleviate unemployment.

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