Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke re-entered the public forum Monday morning, unveiling a new blog and Twitter handle.
Bernanke, now a scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, has a blog dedicated to his own writings for the think tank.
His first post, published Monday morning, aims to explain why interest rates are as low as they are, and to defend himself and the central bank from the charge that they hurt seniors and savers by keeping interest rates low.
The post also reveals that the former George W. Bush economic adviser and Princeton professor is on Twitter, at @benbernanke.
The account, as of Monday morning, was private, having only four followers.
Bernanke left the Fed in January of last year after leading it during the descent into the recession and through the unprecedented rescue effort it later launched.
Since leaving, he has kept a relatively low profile, but his new blog could change that.
“Now that I’m a civilian again, I can once more comment on economic and financial issues without my words being put under the microscope by Fed watchers,” Bernanke wrote in a brief introductory note to his blog.
While he may no longer have investors scrutinizing every word he says, Bernanke still commands significant interest for his thoughts on the economy and finance. After leaving the Fed last year, Bernanke hit the lucrative financial services speech circuit, reportedly making more per speech than his annual salary as Fed chairman.
