The Central Bank (or the Federal Reserve) decides what we do with the country's store of money, interest rates, and money printing machines, among other things monetary. There are 12 regional branches and there are board directors for each of these branches, along with a chairman. Our current Treasury Secretary, Geithner was the Fed Chief of New York. The Fed is often criticized by economists on the left for the revolving door that swings freely between the Fed leadership and our political system. The Fed also did next to nothing to keep the current crisis from happening.

So, the Washington Post reports (in breaking news) that Obama will name Ben Bernanke to head up the Federal Reserve again. Most people thought Bernanke would be appointed to a second term because it would be disruptive to change leadership now. I still can't believe it is true. It's probably because I am 29.

The central bankers convened an annual meeting this past weekend in Wyoming. Daniel Tarullo, current Fed Governor led and created an opening for hope at the meeting with his remarks tackling the difference with big banks in financial crises like we're witnessing. This is the most senior oficial to respond to size in a thorough manner (Bernanke himself has touched on the importance of size in the past).

There promised to be some healthy debate and discourse at the meeting betwen Bernanke and Tarullo and others, but doesn't seem like Bernanke made too much of a splash. The general takeaway from the meeting was that the economic crisis was bottoming out, the road
to recovery would be bumpy and the cost of oil by the barrel will likely cause large problems for the entire country if it keeps going up.

The central bank plans on continuing with the same monetary policy it has been enacting in the past 6 months, that is keeping interest rates low. It's good to remember the following: “This is not a crisis that just comes and goes,” a senior official said.

With that said, there have been articles in the past day about the coming second dip in the recession we're all in. Nouriel Roubini makes a strong case that we'll see some more bottoming out in the next month or in October. If it happens, it won't be good. And the reason why it would happen is because we're still knee high in those darn toxic assets.

Lastly, the Fed has been forced to disclose information about the banks that were bailed out. The fed was trying to use FOIA loopholes to get out of the usually mandatory disclosure, but after a lawsuit filed by Bloomberg LP against their coyness, they have been forced to do what they're supposed to. This is a win, great.

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