Paul Krugman Wants to Replace Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve Chairman

Here’s a really scary thought: New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wants to replace Ben Bernanke as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

The perilously liberal economist actually said this in a segment of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS to be aired Sunday (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

Krugman and Harvard economics professor Ken Rogoff were chatting with Zakaria about the state of the economy and what the Fed could be doing to spark a stronger recovery.

Krugman said that besides being more aggressive with a policy known as quantitative easing, “It would really help in situations like the one we’re in now if the Fed would make it clear that it is willing to tolerate a higher rate of inflation over the medium term.”

Rogoff agreed but said, “The trouble is how do they credibly do it? How do they make a signal?”

“By the way, Paul,” Rogoff added, “what would you think of the idea of appointing you Federal Reserve Chairman as a credible signal?”

“People have been saying,” Krugman responded, “that Ben Bernanke should go around wearing a Hawaiian shirt so that he wouldn’t be seen credibly. And the fact of the matter is he actually does have a taste for Hawaiian shirts, but it would be better to appoint me. Sure. That would help drive down the dollar, it would help drive up inflation expectations.”

“The one thing is,” Krugman added, “as long as somebody else does the actual work of running the place because you don’t want me doing that."

Actually, given the stock market crash that would ensue if Krugman had anything at all to do with Fed policy, we want him as far away from that building as possible.