The Fed Speech: Paul Solman Channels Ben Bernanke

MAKING SENSE -- August 27, 2010 at 5:59 PM EDT

The Fed Speech: Paul Solman Channels Ben Bernanke

Years ago, Saturday Night Live's Kevin Nealon debuted a character named "Mr. Subliminal" whom he still reprises. The gimmick: Nealon talks and then occasionally, under his breath, says what he's really thinking.

In October, President Obama economic adviser Austan Goolsbee used the technique in a stand-up comedy routine (two minutes into this clip) that earned him top prize in the 16th annual "D.C.'s Funniest Celebrity" contest.

So when Ben Bernanke delivered his major address to the annual meeting of the Federal Reserve at Jackson Hole, Wyo., Friday and it turned out to be 6,000 words -- about 40 minutes of reading aloud on the NewsHour, even if I performed it at my sometimes breakneck pace -- an idea occurred. In the interests of time, why not select key excerpts and give readers a sense of the overall content, plus a glimpse of the inner workings of the chairman's mind?

To read the rest of this post, visit Paul Solman's Business Desk blog.

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