Bernanke & Yellen Simply Didn't Know Where to Look

Those are the confessions of the ex-chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, and his successor, Janet Yellen. They are contained in Nicholas Lemann’s profile of Mrs. Yellen in the latest number of the New Yorker. It’s a wonderful story, even if it adds up to a plea that Mrs. Yellen needs to be more of a politician. It’s a reminder of, among other things, that they just didn’t see the crisis coming. It just wasn’t in the Fed’s data. And no wonder. They weren’t paying attention to Julie Satow.