Six Questions for Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke

On Wednesday, Ben Bernanke will do what no other Fed chairman before him has ever done: Hold a press conference.

Here are six questions we'd like to see Bernanke answer. (Any questions you'd like see posed to the Fed chief? Share them in the comments section. Or tweet them @motherjones using the hashtag #FedSpeaks.)

• 1) What more can the Fed do to put Americans back to work? And what, in your opinion, is a tolerable level of unemployment in the US?
  
  2) What steps would you take to address the country's long-term fiscal health?
  
  3) Would you consider a higher inflation target? Why or why not?
  
  4) Why has the Fed fought transparency efforts?
  
  5) Republicans are holding up the confirmation of Obama's Fed Board of Governors nominee Peter Diamond, a Nobel Prize winner, over concerns that he's underqualified. Do you agree?
  
  6) The Fed is supposed to be independent, yet banks appoint many of its directors. Is the Fed too close to Wall Street?