美联储主席伯南克获《时代》年度人物

爱思英语编者按：《时代》杂志年度人物于本周三揭晓，美国联邦储备委员会主席本•伯南克当选。时值伯南克试图限制可能会削弱美联储独立性提议的当口，当选《时代》年度人物无疑将大助其一臂之力。
The cover of latest Time magazine. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was named Person of the Year by Time magazine on Wednesday, giving him a high-profile boost as he tries to fend off proposals that might weaken the Fed"s independence. 
 

The selection puts the mild-mannered Bernanke, a former professor, in the company of U.S. President Barack Obama, Pope John Paul II and Russian President Vladimir Putin, among other prominent world figures the magazine has picked in past years.

The Senate is considering Bernanke"s nomination to a second term to head the Fed -- the US central bank -- and while he is expected to win confirmation, criticism of the Fed among the public and members of Congress is at its highest in decades.

The Fed"s role in bailouts of Wall Street has prompted criticism from both Republicans and Democrats. Some lawmakers are pushing proposals to curb the Fed"s regulatory powers and open up its interest rate decision to congressional audits.

The Fed worries that congressional second-guessing of its policy decisions would compromise its fiercely-guarded independence.

One poll by Rasmussen Reports this month showed public support for Bernanke"s nomination at a scant 21 percent, with 41 percent stating opposition, but he continues to enjoy support on Wall Street and among many lawmakers.

"Ben is the person that kept us from going over the edge of the precipice and into the abyss," said former Fed Governor Lyle Gramley, now a senior economic adviser at Soleil Securities.更多信息请访问：http://www.24en.com/

But Republican Senator Jim Bunning, one of the Fed"s sharpest critics, said Time"s pick was a reward for "failure."

"Many of the problems our markets are facing right now could have been avoided had Chairman Bernanke not been asleep at the switch," Bunning said in a statement.

Time credited the 56-year-old Bernanke with creative leadership that helped set the U.S. economy on a path to recovery even as he and other policy makers remain concerned about a high unemployment rate of 10 percent.