Liberty Minute June 4 2013

 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who announced months ago that he will not seek another term, is the world?s most powerful counterfeiter ? but he apparently wants to be a standup comedian.

Bernanke?s recent commencement address at Princeton University, where he had been a professor from 1985 to 2002, was an ill-advised attempt to mimic the ironic comic stylings of TV performer Stephen Colbert. The Fed Chairman told graduates that he had recently sent a job application to the Princeton administration, only to receive a form letter explaining that ?Princeton receives many more qualified applicants for faculty positions than we can accommodate.?

It might be difficult for graduates to see the humor in that line, given their grim employment prospects. The same is true of Bernanke?s comment that sending a student to Princeton is akin to ?buying a new Cadillac every year and then driving it off a cliff.?

There?s something both predictable and appropriate about the fact that Bernanke has an inflated opinion of his comic timing. Perhaps he?d be wise not to give up his day job ? assuming that once he?s finished at the Fed he can find a new job in the economy he?s created.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.