There is no doubt that, during the months he was waiting in the wings to assume the chairmanship of the Fed., Bernanke was paying close attention of everything that Greenspan was saying while the latter finished up his occupancy of that position.
For that reason he was surely aware of Greenspan's oft-mentioned criticism of bond buyers for ignoring risk in their purchase decisions. Now that risk is once again being acknowledged in bond-purchase decisions, ALL sectors of the credit market are being affected, and billions of dollars in market value are being surrendered.
Bernanke, therefore, cannot be speaking honestly when he claims that the current problems can be contained to the subprime mortgage market. Is this the new Fed-speak, in which the chairman will attempt to immitate the style of such luminaries as Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush?
The Fed has at its disposal the tools necessary to ensure that the credit it creates is used responsibly. Greenspan refused to use them for reasons of personal ideology. Does Bernanke share those prejudices?
