Taleb on Why Bernanke Kept Post

Bestselling author Nassim Taleb doesn’t understand the reason why Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner kept their posts after failing to see the obvious, that is – the collapse in global credit markets. Taleb has said in more than one occasion that it is an outrage to have the folks who got us into this mess be hired, or re-hired – as is the case – to get us out of it.

“Bernanke, Geithner and Summers didn’t see the crisis coming so why are they still there?” Taleb told a group of business people in Hong Kong. Bernanke is like “a pilot who didn’t see a hurricane,” he added.

Bernanke said on Sept. 15 that the U.S. recession had probably ended, following a financial meltdown that caused more than $1.6 trillion of losses at the world’s biggest financial institutions. Taleb said the risks that caused the global crisis are “still with us” and urged the U.S. government to avoid burdening the public or future generations with the cost of the bank bailout. The national debt is $11.77 trillion, U.S. Treasury Department figures show.

“The solution is simple: we have to sweat it out,” he said. The U.S. has “to kill the debt,” not pass it on. [Bloomberg]

While it is imperative that we hear and employ ideas from outside of the current system, it is also important not to lose sight of the fact that Taleb has never been in any position that is anywhere near as complex or important as that of Bernanke’s. While he [Taleb] usually, when it comes to this argument, outlines his line of logic with concise and precise brevity as to why he is no fan of  “the triplets” as he calls them, let’s keep in mind that Nassim doesn’t have a clue nor does he understand the complexities that involve the interdependent dynamic systems that represent the Fed’s day-to-day operations….Having said that, and assuming we don’t have a double dip recession, it seems pretty clear that Ben Bernanke and Co. are so far emerging from the crisis as winners.

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