A subtle shift

BEN Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, is having a hard time of it.

He was never going to look marvellous in the wake of his predecessor, Alan Greenspan, who had attained the status of demigod. But throw in erratic US data, a Middle East crisis, deficits, housing bubbles, presidents mouthing off on national television and you have got yourself a chairman who is torn on how best to play the interest rate card.