Dear Ben,
If I might be so bold as to assume we can be on a first-name basis, let me be among of the first to say, congrats on the new gig!
You have been quite the busy ex-Fed chairman, what with the new job and office at Brookings and a red hot new eponymous blog. Today we learned you entered into a consulting deal with Citadel, Kenneth Griffin’s $25 billion hedge fund. I feel safe in assuming that as a sharp student of economic theory you made sure to let market forces dictate your compensation. There’s only a limited supply of ex-Fed chiefs and the demand is huge.
Kudos!
After eight years of thankless duty as head of the world’s most important central bank, no one will begrudge your efforts to monetize the insights and experience you gained there. I am sure your attorneys vetted this arrangement, and there are no obvious conflicts of interest. But be aware that this has the appearance of the usual Washington-Wall St. revolving door; some critics may not be mollified by the fact that the Fed was never Citadel’s regulator.
Nevertheless, all of this activity is starting to look a bit frenetic. Allow me to share some unsolicited advice:
Pace yourself!
You are going to burn out if you’re not careful. As your Fed predecessors Paul Volcker and Alan Greenspan have shown, you are likely to have a long post-chairmanship ahead of you. You don’t want to risk an early burnout from taking on too much too soon. It’s a real possibility, not something to be shrugged off.
The good news is that Griffin by most accounts is a good boss; people seem to really like working at Citadel. The bad news is . . .
Continues here: Dear Ben Bernanke: Pace Yourself and Have Fun
Bernanke is a lock for VP on the Elizabeth Warren ticket now.
My recollection is that Bernanke went to Congress many times advocating for fiscal action. Congress being the bunch of wankers that they are, did nothing because BENGHAZI. It sounds like he has changed his tune on that now?