What does he know, when will we know it

It was Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's turn to visit Capitol Hill today. Possible stagnation, contraction and growth was the cycle to expect through 2009 that he laid out to the Joint Economic Committee. He remains unwilling to declare that the U.S. has entered a recession and defended the rescue of Bear Stearns. He does see strains in the credit markets as being a problem but sees a rosy future for the economy.

Unfortunately, Bernanke's pronunciations from on high, as usual, are divorced from the reality that voters live in. One of the great stresses on the economy is the cost of fuel, and the cost of food, sectors that get bracketed out of economic models because of their volatility. It's also hurt by the relatively low value of the dollar (good for exports, bad for imports) and wage stagnation. None of these things seems to have come up. Until these matters are addressed in a meaningful way, the economy will remain priority one, and the candidates can't afford to remain stupid about it.