Former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke, according to the New York Times, has developed a brisk business in performing at small dinner parties for “bankers, hedge fund billionaires and leaders of industry” at $200,000-$400,000 a pop. Note that these are not speeches to large groups at conventions, where a big name is useful to goose attendance; those are handled through Bernanke’s speakers’ bureau, for a fee to be negotiated.  The news reports concern sessions with small groups of insiders. The logical question is, why does such a business exist?  Why are hard-headed financial firms willing to pay this kind of money?  Several possible explanations come to mind, all of them disturbing. The first is that Bernanke shares insights with these paying customers that he did or does not share in his official or academic work.  The NYT report quotes one attendee as saying that he “gave credence to the idea that the Fed believed in...(Read Full Article)