The markets welcome Greenspan’s successor

Ben Bernanke has been named as Alan Greenspan’s replacement as chairman of the US Federal Reserve, and the news seems to have gone down well with the world’s equity markets: they nearly all rose on the news, with the Dow jumping 170 points, its biggest one-day move since April.

Ben Bernanke has been named as Alan Greenspan's replacement as chairman of the US Federal Reserve, and the news seems to have gone down well with the world's equity markets: they nearly all rose on the news, with the Dow jumping 170 points, its biggest one-day move since April.

Still, the appointment should hardly have come as much of a surprise. It was widely predicted and had been since Bernanke's move to the White House to head up president Bush's Council of Economic Advisers. And having nominated Harriet E Miers to the Supreme Court - against almost everyone's advice - Bush was hardly in a position to make another controversial appointment.

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