Viewpoint: Allan Sloan

“We have an unfortunate tendency in this country to treat people as either heroes or villains, with no gradations in between. Take Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. He’s being called exceptionally vicious names by right-wing types for supposedly undermining our currency and planting the seeds for future inflation—while also being excoriated by liberals for not doing enough to help the economy. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of the hero-or-villain standard. Bernanke isn’t a villain; he’s not a hero. He’s just a guy trying to do a complicated, high-pressure job the best he can, making plenty of mistakes along the way. I’m no Fed lover. But the Fed deserves credit and respect for acting, as opposed to Washington’s other major players, who are doing nothing but talking and posturing.”

Allan Sloan in Fortune