Bernanke's PR Campaign Strips Fed Mystique

Ben Bernanke is breaking from his predecessors at the Federal Reserve by giving the public a less obstructed view of the Fed's role in the big picture, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bernanke, thrust into the spotlight by the financial crisis, has ditched the man-behind-the-curtain mystique earlier chiefs reveled in to offer franker explanations of the Fed's moves. He's even considering holding regular press briefings as his European counterparts do; a speech yesterday was seen by some as a dry run.

Bernanke, long an advocate for a more open central bank, has stepped-up efforts to explain the Fed's role to lawmakers, putting him in a professor-in-chief role, the Journal notes. He's up for reappointment when his term expires at the start of next year, but associates say his focus is purely on getting the economy back on track. "Everything I do is with that in mind," he said in a recent interview. (More Ben Bernanke stories.)