Democrats vs. Bernanke

It'll be worth checking out the Bernanke Show for the next couple days, as Democrats plan to confront him (finally) on the growing income gap between rich and poor:

Fed officials argue a tight labor market may spur faster inflation and are threatening to resume rate increases they suspended in August. Democrats are determined to pry the central bank loose from the concept that wage growth and low unemployment necessarily translate into inflation.

"The model risks persistent and unnecessary slack in the economy, wasting billions of dollars and consigning millions of potential workers to fewer job opportunities and lower wages than should be the case," said Jared Bernstein, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think-tank funded partly by labor groups.

In the Senate, where Bernanke opens his testimony today at 10 a.m., Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, wants to discuss ``interest rates and their impact on the financial opportunities of middle-income families.'' Dodd, 62, also wants to address ``stagnant incomes,'' according to a statement his office issued Feb. 12.

Bernanke, 53, testifies before the House Financial Services Committee tomorrow. Committee Chairman Barney Frank of Massachusetts has summoned economists, including Bernstein, to a hearing on Feb. 16 to appraise Bernanke's testimony.

Call me a macroeconomic moron, but how is it that economic "growth" (as in "rich get richer") is good, whereas "inflation" (whatever that is, though now it seems primarily to refer to increasing wages) is "bad"? In any case, definitely some testimony worth following.