Bernanke Changes His Tune

In a speech delivered at the Boston Fed yesterday, Bernanke hinted that he may be finished bailing out the US banking system, and would like to refocus on his actual job: preventing rampant inflation from destroying the US economy.  In what was interpreted by many as hawkish comments, Bernanke stressed that the Fed's focus has shifted from worries about an economic slowdown to concerns about inflationary expectations.  Frankly, I am glad that others are pros in interpreting Fed-speak, because Bernanke stumped me this time.  The direct quote:  "The Federal Open Market Committee will strongly resist an erosion of longer-term inflation expectations, as an unanchoring of those expectations would be destabilizing from growth as well as inflation."  Huh?  An erosion of longer-term inflation expectations?  Doesn't "erosion" imply a decrease in inflationary expectations, which he is looking to resist?  Furthermore, according to spell-check, "unanchoring" isn't even a word.  But if those with a better command of the English language claim he's being hawkish, that's perfectly fine with me.  It's the right thing to do, albeit late.  Maybe the US can get away with Latin American style inflation, rather than Zimbabwe sytle inflation.  That may not be a comforting thought, but in the relative world, it's not too shabby.