Team Bernanke knows best?

Kling's despair notwithstanding, the argument that the plan Benrnanke supported IS the expert consensus rests on two points:

1. Team Benanke is as economically competent as any expert alive.

2. Team Bernanke is better informed about the current economic realities than his critics.

http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2008/09/if-i-were-member-of-congress.html

I find point two a little distressing: a case could be made for partisan shadow feds, and independent permanent independent auditors of the Fed. The bureacracy shouldn't be the only best informed player in this space, it seems to me. To get real consensus, I think one first needs decentralization and rivalry.