美联储主席伯南克获评《时代》年度人物

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was named Person of the Year by Time magazine on Wednesday, giving him a high-profile boost as he tries to fend off proposals that might weaken the Fed's independence.

The selection puts the mild-mannered Bernanke, a former professor, in the company of U.S. President Barack Obama, Pope John Paul II and Russian President Vladimir Putin, among other prominent world figures the magazine has picked in past years.

The Senate is considering Bernanke's nomination to a second term to head the Fed -- the US central bank -- and while he is expected to win confirmation, criticism of the Fed among the public and members of Congress is at its highest in decades.

The Fed's role in bailouts of Wall Street has prompted criticism from both Republicans and Democrats. Some lawmakers are pushing proposals to curb the Fed's regulatory powers and open up its interest rate decision to congressional audits.

The Fed worries that congressional second-guessing of its policy decisions would compromise its fiercely-guarded independence.

One poll by Rasmussen Reports this month showed public support for Bernanke's nomination at a scant 21 percent, with 41 percent stating opposition, but he continues to enjoy support on Wall Street and among many lawmakers.

"Ben is the person that kept us from going over the edge of the precipice and into the abyss," said former Fed Governor Lyle Gramley, now a senior economic adviser at Soleil Securities.

But Republican Senator Jim Bunning, one of the Fed's sharpest critics, said Time's pick was a reward for "failure."

"Many of the problems our markets are facing right now could have been avoided had Chairman Bernanke not been asleep at the switch," Bunning said in a statement.

Time credited the 56-year-old Bernanke with creative leadership that helped set the U.S. economy on a path to recovery even as he and other policy makers remain concerned about a high unemployment rate of 10 percent

《时代》杂志年度人物于本周三揭晓，美国联邦储备委员会主席本．伯南克当选。时值伯南克试图限制可能会削弱美联储独立性提议的当口，当选《时代》年度人物无疑将大助其一臂之力。

伯南克温文尔雅，曾是一名教授。《时代》杂志往年评选出的年度杰出人物包括美国总统贝拉克．奥巴马、教皇约翰．保罗二世以及俄罗斯前总统弗拉基米尔．普京等。

目前美国参议院正考虑推选伯南克连任美联储（美国央行）主席。尽管伯南克获得连任没有多大悬念，但公众和美国国会议员对美联储的批评声音数十年来空前高涨。

美联储对华尔街的援助招致了共和党和民主党两个党派的批评。一些立法者提议限制美联储制定规章的权力，并要求其公开利率决策，接受国会审计。

美联储担心国会干预其政策制定会危及其顽强捍卫的独立性。

“拉斯穆森报告”本月开展的一项民调显示，仅有22%的公众支持伯南克连任美联储主席，41%的人表示反对。尽管如此，伯南克仍然受到华尔街和很多立法者的支持。

前美联储理事、现任Soleil证券公司高级经济顾问的莱利．格拉姆利说：“伯南克把我们从悬崖边挽救了回来，使我们没有坠入深渊。”

但共和党参议员吉姆．邦宁认为，《时代》杂志的这一选择是在褒奖“失败”。邦宁是针对美联储最尖锐的批评人士之一。

邦宁在一份声明中说：“如果不是伯南克主席失职，我们的市场如今面临的很多问题都可以避免。”

《时代》之所以评选56岁的伯南克为今年的年度人物，是因为他凭借其富有创造力的领导能力帮助美国经济走上了经济复苏的道路，尽管他和其他决策者仍在为高达10%的失业率而担忧

Vocabulary:

mild-mannered：behaving in or having a mild or gentle manner（温和的）

second-guess：to use hindsight in criticizing or correcting（质疑，事后劝告）

scant：barely sufficient in amount or quantity; not abundant; almost inadequate（不足的，欠缺的）

asleep at the switch：failing to perform one's duty, missing an opportunity, etc., because of negligence or inattention（玩忽职守，错过机会）