Bernanke Unplugged

Daniel Brenner/AnnArbor.com, via Associated Press Ben S. Bernanke, the Fed chairman, at the University of Michigan on Monday with Susan Collins, dean of the Ford School of Public Policy.

Much is made of the fact that Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, is more open and candid than his predecessors, but in fairness, that’s a low bar. His public appearances are infrequent by comparison with other national leaders, his remarks are guarded and his personal life is carefully obscured.

<>Except when Mr. Bernanke, a former college professor, speaks with students.

The Fed chairman seemed relaxed and happy as he answered questions at the University of Michigan on Monday, much the same as he did last year when he taught a series of classes at George Washington University.

Asked what keeps him up at night, Mr. Bernanke joked that he and his wife have a dog that shares their bed. Asked whether he reads online commentary, he replied, “I follow a lot of baseball blogs myself, actually.”

Even when he talked about the economy, he sounded like a man who had left work and was spending some time with some friends.

So how are things looking, Ben “As long as fiscal policy isn’t getting too messed up, consumers seem to be more upbeat,” he said. Local governments have stopped cutting jobs. Better yet, people are building ! houses again.

“That’s one factor that’s going to help us have a better year, I hope, in 2013,” he said.

Why did the Fed decide in December to stop predicting an end date for low interest rates, and instead to describe its economic objectives

“We gave a date which was just our best guess, and then it changed a couple of times,” Mr. Bernanke said. “What we’ve tried to do in our more recent evolution is explain what we will be looking for.”

Hopefully that will be more clear, he said. And as he noted later, he really is trying to be more clear.

“There’s just been an enormous change and we are just much, much more transparent and easy to understand than would have been the case 15 or 20 years ago,” Mr. Bernanke said.

So what’s the deal with all these experimental strategies

The problem with central bankers in the 1930s, Mr. Bernanke said, i that “they were afraid to do anything that was unorthodox.”

“Sometimes,” he went on, “you need to consider unorthodox approaches.”

Some of those things have worked; others not.

How about the latest campaign, the Fed’s effort to reduce unemployment more quickly by purchasing mortgage-backed securities

“We think we’re getting some effects. It’s kind of early.”

Mr. Bernanke is a former college professor, and it’s easy to imagine him slipping back into the role once his time as chairman comes to an end.

But even in Monday’s relatively loose atmosphere, it was impossible to forget that the Fed chairman would shortly return to Washington.

And how are things back in Washington

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” he said.