ABSTRACT
The Man of Steel: More Powerful than a Locomotive, Able to Bend Steel in His Bare Hands, It’s . . . ?
Being surrounded by a myriad of reporters who hang on his each and every word, the man that many businesses consider the most powerful and in uential person in the world has hundreds of economists analyzing his speeches, not only line by line but word for word. They are looking for clues, hints, and perhaps subtle nuances that might reveal his next move, a move that might shake the very foundation of the nancial community, bring the stock markets of the world to a trading halt, or create the reverse-a trading frenzy-and, in so doing, change the world economy as we know it. Yet this “superman” is not, as many would suspect, the president of the United States; is not elected by the people, for the people; and in fact, is not a politician at all. In not running for of ce, he is unaffected by terms of of ce and lobbyists trying to earn his good graces with campaign contributions. He is not confronted by opponents trying to besmirch his name and his reputation and does not have to make promises he can’t keep to appease a demanding public or his contributors. He is the benevolent guiding light of economic reason, the caretaker of the U.S. economy, and a presidential appointee with “powers beyond those of a normal man.” Who is this “man of steel . . . the protector of the American way?” Why, of course, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke.
