New Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has made more sense in one hour than Alan Greenspan did during his entire tenure on the Federal Reserve Board. The thing I like about this guy is he seems to be a straight shooter.

Bernanke made comments on oil prices, and those comments have yet to hit any news wire. He basically said that oil prices will remain high for quite some time, and prices need to remain high in order to achieve the nation’s goal of being less dependent on foreign oil in the future.

To paraphrase, he basically said what I have been saying all along. My belief is that Americans only learn their lesson when there is pain involved. What incentives would the public have to buy alternative fueled vehicles if energy prices dropped substantially? The answer is, none. But, if you hit the consumer in the pocketbook hard enough, they will eventually cry Uncle.

It is unfortunate that this is the only way people learn, but it’s the truth.