I wouldn’t say Bernake is a leader in the field of economics. And I’m sure there are few here who are actually more knowledgeable than he is on monetary policy and global macroeconomics.

For Bernake to state that the value of the US dollar isn’t the responsibility of the fed reserve, and that the housing slowdown is “contained” and will not affect the broader economy, is sheer lunacy. So yeah, I do think he is an idiot.