The Onion: “Drunken Bernanke” Spoof Posted by AVCU on 1:58 PM

The satirical newspaper, “The Onion,” for years has consistently pilloried the nation's top central banker. Its shtick, as reported by American Banker, was to treat former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan as if he were a rock star, including articles suggesting he was just going to tour small clubs. One in 2007 that had him returning from retirement to "cut interest rates one last time" in front of a packed audience. In its 1999 "Greenspan, Entourage Demolish Hotel Room," The Onion  falsely reported him as clubbing it up and tearing things apart while "still high off the dollar's late rally against the yen."

Yesterday, The Onion released its latest edition with the leading headline of "Drunken Ben Bernanke Tells Everyone At Neighborhood Bar How Screwed U.S. Economy Really Is." American Banker goes on to describe the parody as painting Bernanke like the town drunk, playing "Money for Nothing" over and over on the jukebox while loudly declaring the imminent death of the national economy. The article finishes with Bernanke refusing to pay in U.S. currency because it's "worthless," before dancing alone.

Read The Onion’s parody on Ben Bernanke here.