This economics blogger is completely wrong about inequality and poverty

Yeah, his name is Ben Bernanke. And he's still wrong.

Ben Bernanke
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, in between his new jobs at PIMCO and Citadel, writes a blog at the Brookings Institute. Recently he wrote on the potential effects of central bank policy on inequality (a topic my colleague Jeff Spross recently covered). Did Fed policy during the Great Recession make it worse? Somewhat, says Bernanke, but things could have been worse.

Bernanke makes some good points. But his treatment of inequality misses half the story. In fact, the Fed has been a major player in the rise of inequality, both before the crisis and after. His treatment of poverty, which he says is best addressed by higher wages, is similarly mistaken. Under market capitalism, there will always be a significant number of people who cannot work, and higher wages (though they are a good in themselves) are inferior to direct cash payments when it comes to fighting poverty.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.