Bernanke and ‘President Paulson’ are in Charge

The story sounds like a great read if it weren’t so current – and for many, so daunting.
“The Professor and The Banker” might even make a good buddy picture one day, according to what I’ve gleaned from the handful of profiles on the two most powerful and influential men in the country at the moment: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. The chairman, a former Ivy League professor, is an avid historian and a deep thinker who prefers to work behind the scenes and favors diet Dr. Pepper to fuel his endless work days. The Treasury secretary, a Christian Scientist who does not drink or smoke, is a “hard-charging” (this adjective appears in nearly every reference to Paulson) ex-jock who prefers in-person confrontations, a resolute approach problem-solving and diet Coke.
More substantive understandings of Bernanke and Paulson are now necessary for those who care about the U.S. financial system’s future. These two men, both who were appointed (not elected) to their positions, are wielding more influence than the two Presidential candidates. Some Congressional leaders have been referring to the banker as “President Paulson.” And this Monday morning it appeared that Congressional Democrats are “rushing to put their mark” on Paulson and Bernanke’s $700 billion bailout plan to “reassert their authority after being consulting by the administration often only after the fact,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
Democrats are not alone: “The improvisational nature of [Bernanke and Paulson’s] effort has turned President Bush and Congressional Democrats into virtual bystanders, sometimes uncertain about what comes next and left to wonder about the new power dynamics in the capital,” reads an inside-baseball account in Sunday’s New York Times, an article that later concludes with: “In the end, what leaves so many lawmakers and economists frustrated was the sense that no one had a better idea. So they waited for Mr. Paulson and Mr. Bernanke to give them more details about what they wanted to do.”
Although President Bush and SEC Chairman Christopher Cox were also on hand to unveil the bailout, it appears that the plan is a result of the country’s new power couple. I’m thankful, for the moment, that this couple had the skills, experience, analytical (and political) savvy to inform their decisiveness.