Liberty Maven

Last week columnist George Will suggested Ben Bernanke should be Time’s “Person of the Year” because he “stabilized the financial system”. This week Time magazine gave Will his wish. Ben Bernanke is Time’s “Person of the Year” for 2009.

An award this wrong-headed hasn’t been doled out since…well.. a few weeks ago when Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. The American people, specifically the lower income American people, are all hostages to Ben Bernanke and his band of merry fiat paper pushers. Indeed, selecting Bernanke as Time’s “Person of the Year” is Stockholm Syndrome writ large.

Time gushes about Bernanke calling him “the most powerful nerd on the planet”. They got that part right, but I’m dumbfounded by the hero worship. It reminds me of the fraternity paddling scene in Animal House where the student pleads, “Thank you sir, may I have another!” after being repeatedly spanked with the paddle.

Let’s go over this again. When the money supply is increased by the Federal Reserve every dollar in your pocket is devalued. This debasement is a hidden tax on the American people. It is a dishonest way of stealing the money you earn without allowing you to witness it directly.

The Fed is a petty pickpocket artist robbing the American people of prosperity one penny at a time. Would you nominate a thief for person of the year? Time magazine did exactly that.