(Image Source: History of Economics)

BY JIM FLINK

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

You're watching multisource business video news analysis from Newsy. 

Tanking.
Not just the economy.
Also Ben Bernanke’s rep.
That’s at least one major take on the Fed Chief.  Ever since he took the podium mid-week, several disparaging assessments of Bernanke’s performance -- have bubbled to the surface.
Here’s Bloomberg.

"The Federal Reserve Chairman’s approval rating has slipped to 30%, this according a Bloomberg national poll.  This down from 41% at the height of the financial crisis.”
“American voters still seem to back the Fed though.  It’s viewed favorably by 42% of those polled, pretty much unchanged from the last time.”

Why the love-loss?
Bernanke wasn’t just gloomy or perplexed about the economy -- he seemed to some -- downright scared.
So says an analyst on Fox Business.

“First of all he look terrified.  And whenever your central banker looks scared, you as a trader should be scared.”
“I think it is just a soft patch. I think things will start to get better.  I thought they were going to start to get better in Q3.  I think Bernanke pretty much blew that one out of the water for me, and now I’m looking at Q4.”

And an analyst tells CNBC, perceived fear at the Fed -- can quickly change to blanket panic on the street.  

“I really get a sense of panic on the part of policy makers.  Domestically, all signs point to a weak economy, it is unambiguous.”
“This is a murky period of less monetary and fiscal support.”
“We’re entering it with a broken, or at least a wounded market, technically.”

But other analysts say, the public is putting too much on the Fed chief’s shoulders.
Forex News strikes a more conciliatory tone.

“He looked like a kid who just got told that there’s no Santa Claus.
“Right now, all we’re talking about is monetary policy. What’s monetary policy doing, what’s monetary policy doing?  Meanwhile, politicians skate scott free on fiscal policy.  And as we know, there’s a reason why we have both of these policies.  That’s how you manage an economy.”
 
On The Street, CNBC’s Jim Cramer says, he feels bad for Bernanke.

“My take is Bernanke’s doing a good job.  He’s really hated right now.  People feel like he’s being really ineffective.”
“Remember he was just trying not to have the 1930s, ok?”
“The government’s got to rein in spending.  I wish he would have said that, you know?  I wish he would have been quid quo pro.  Just cut the defense spending, just cut the entitlements there’s room for more accomodation.”

 

Transcript by Newsy.