Ben Bernanke, Chairman, U.S. Federal Reserve
Ben Shalom Bernanke (born December 13, 1953) is an American economist, and the current Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve. Previously, he served as Fed Governor and Chairman of President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers. Bernanke ranks 4th on Newsweek's 2009 list of the world's most powerful along with Jean-Claude Trichet (5th) and Masaaki Shirakawa (6th) to form what Newsweek termed the "Economic Triumvirate".Why Do You Care?
Next to President Obama, Bernanke probably has the toughest job in the country. Anything he says on any subject generally has a global financial impact.
Some may argue the Fed and Bernanke lost some of their authority to the Treasury in the recently passed Dodd-Frank Act, but who else in this country can conjure up $600 billion from thin air?
Ben Bernanke's bio from Wikipedia.