POWER WITHOUT CREDIBILITY, Part 3 Politics of the financial crisis

By Henry CK Liu

This article concludes a three-part report.
Part 1: Bogged down at the Fed
Part 2: A lost decade ahead

United States Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is visibly frustrated that many in Congress do not give the Fed what he believes is enough credit for what it has accomplished in responding to the economic crisis, even as Wall Street heaps praise on his bold actions and steady hand in pulling the financial system out of an impending meltdown.

Bernanke, whom President Barack Obama this month appointed for a second term as Fed chairman, faces a far from smooth passage through calmer seas over his next four years in the post. All the structural weaknesses that caused the economy to implode two years ago are still in the financial system, albeit swept under the rug into the Fed's balance sheet and masked by massive amount of new money and public debt not backed by any new wealth creation.