美聯儲主席伯南克獲評《時代》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
《時代》雜誌年度人物於本週三揭曉，美國聯邦儲備委員會主席本•伯南克當選。時值伯南克試圖限制可能會削弱美聯儲獨立性提議的當口，當選《時代》年度人物無疑將大助其一臂之力。
伯南克溫文爾雅，曾是一名教授。《時代》雜誌往年評選出的年度傑出人物包括美國總統貝拉克•奧巴馬、教皇約翰•保羅二世以及俄羅斯前總統弗拉基米爾•普京等。
目前美國參議院正考慮推選伯南克連任美聯儲（美國央行）主席。儘管伯南克獲得連任沒有多大懸念，但公衆和美國國會議員對美聯儲的批評聲音數十年來空前高漲。
美聯儲對華爾街的援助招致了共和黨和民主黨兩個黨派的批評。一些立法者提議限制美聯儲制定規章的權力，並要求其公開利率決策，接受國會審計。
美聯儲擔心國會干預其政策制定會危及其頑強捍衛的獨立性。
“拉斯穆森報告”本月開展的一項民調顯示，僅有22%的公衆支持伯南克連任美聯儲主席，41%的人表示反對。儘管如此，伯南克仍然受到華爾街和很多立法者的支持。
前美聯儲理事、現任Soleil證券公司高級經濟顧問的萊利•格拉姆利說：“伯南克把我們從懸崖邊挽救了回來，使我們沒有墜入深淵。”
但共和黨參議員吉姆•邦寧認爲，《時代》雜誌的這一選擇是在褒獎“失敗”。邦寧是針對美聯儲最尖銳的批評人士之一。
邦寧在一份聲明中說：“如果不是伯南克主席失職，我們的市場如今面臨的很多問題都可以避免。”
《時代》之所以評選56歲的伯南克爲今年的年度人物，是因爲他憑藉其富有創造力的領導能力幫助美國經濟走上了經濟復甦的道路，儘管他和其他決策者仍在爲高達10%的失業率而擔憂
Vocabulary:
mild-mannered：behaving in or having a mild or gentle manner（溫和的）
second-guess：to use hindsight in criticizing or correcting（質疑，事後勸告）
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（玩忽職守，錯過機會）
