Bernanke “thinks” more about unemployment
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Back in April when we created a word cloud of what Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said in his first post-rate decision press conference we noted that the word “inflation” loomed much larger than did any mention of unemployment or jobs.
Today, eight weeks later, Bernanke went in front of the press again, and judging by our new analysis he had a lot more to say about unemployment than he did back in the spring. Take a look below.
Obviously Inflation is still a hot topic, but the word “unemployment” has grown much larger – indicating Bernanke used the word more often this time around. This isn’t surprising given recent unemployment news and some of the reaction to the his last press conference.
Some other words that show marked increases in frequency of use this time include:
- Projections – Likely due to discussion of the revised estimates for economic growth released today.
- Rate – Used more often in conjunction with “unemployment” than it was back in April
- Growth – Again due to discussion of revised economic projections
Interestingly, as you can see above, the word “think” was clearly among Bernanke’s most used words today, and it was most frequently preceded by “I.” Perhaps Bernanke is becoming more comfortable with the press conference format and is becoming more willing to express his opinions. We’ll see how his performances develop over the coming months.
Here’s a look at April’s cloud for comparison. Word clouds created using Wordle.net.
See anything interesting we missed? Let us know in the comments.
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This is fascinating. Are the places the words occupy part of how the graphic representation relates to his usage, or is that part of the construction of the ‘word cloud’ the creation of a graphic artist?
For the Fed, the word ‘Inflation’ is a MUST, given that ‘Inflation’ is in their core mission statement.
The rest is just icing on the cake….
The Fed CAN’T do anything about unemployment, because it was the corporations that sent the jobs overseas…. Not the Fed. It was the corporations who used the easy money policies of the Fed, to borrow at negative interest rates, to build factories and provide jobs in places like India, China, and even Mexico that control the unemployment, not the Fed…. Get schooled, it’s educational.
Equally telling (to me, anyhow) are some of the smallest words in the cloud. Words like “recovery,” “create” and “answer”
How many times did he say “I don’t know what the hell I am doing”. Unfortunately none. But that is what everyone else is saying.
Sorry, I did not mean to press the “abusive” comment , but to approve what was said.
It is the same situation in Europe.
Bernanke NEEDS to be unemployed