Bernanke Break Means Reappointment Is Assured: Kevin Hassett Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke broke out into a visible sweat last week for what must have been the first time in his public life. Summoned before a House panel to defend the Fed’s handling of the Bank of America Corp. merger with Merrill Lynch & Co. last fall, he faced tough and persistent questioning for more than three hours.

Obama Flubs Schumpeter Creative Destruction 101: Kevin Hassett In his landmark 1942 book, “Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy,” economist Joseph Schumpeter emphasized the key role that creative destruction plays in generating long-run economic growth. It is the driving force of capitalism.

Joke’s on Letterman as Other Comics Roast Obama: Kevin Hassett Conservatives need to cut David Letterman some slack.

Obama Tells American Businesses to Drop Dead: Kevin Hassett I’ve finally figured out the Obama economic strategy. President Barack Obama and his team have been having so much fun wielding dictatorial power while rescuing “failed” firms, that they have developed a scheme to gain the same power over every business. The plan is to enact policies that are so anticompetitive that every firm needs a bailout.

California Leads Nation to Bond Default Abyss: Kevin Hassett There is an old joke that a borrower dies if everyone stops believing in him. A look at the history of financial crises suggests there is a kernel of truth in this.

Deceiver-in-Chief Darts Left, Right, Dizzies All: Kevin Hassett If Ronald Reagan was the Great Communicator, Barack Obama is the Great Deceiver. Time and again, from the beginning of his presidential campaign until today, Obama has taken a strong stand on an issue only to reverse himself.

Inheriting $4.8 Trillion Will Leave You Broke: Kevin Hassett Sometimes, a single word pops up so frequently in the mouths of politicians that you can be sure that it has been tested and retested with focus groups. When a word gets overused, it’s because political operatives have launched a blizzard of conference calls reminding everyone to recite the party line.

Failed Liberal Newspapers Earn Boot, Not Bailout: Kevin Hassett When last week’s employment report came in a tad better than expected, it sent a chill through the hearts of Washington’s Democrats.

Goldman Sachs Foreshadowed UAW’s Chrysler Coup: Kevin Hassett I feel like I have seen this bad gangster movie before.

NFL Draft Signals Giants-Patriots Super Rematch: Kevin Hassett Three years ago in this space, I began tracking the performance of an economic model of the National Football League draft that was developed by Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago and Cade Massey of Yale University. When I did so, it seemed unlikely that the model would be successful in determining the winners and losers of something as dicey as the annual draft.