The Courage To Act: A Memoir of a Crisis and Its Aftermath

In this brilliant memoir, Bernanke (Essays on the Great Depression), one of America's foremost monetary economists, assesses his rise to chair the Federal Reserve, the massive financial crisis in 2008, and the Fed's strong and effective response. He served as chair from 2006 to 2014, and while working with presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, along with treasury secretaries Hank Paulson and Timothy Geithner, he used every means possible at the federal level to keep the U.S. economy from sinking. One is given a vivid perspective on the American economy, from Bernanke's arrival in Washington in 2002 and his experiences during the crisis to the Great Recession that followed. It is demonstrated how he and a few colleagues prevented an economic collapse of tremendous magnitude. Bernanke cut interest rates to almost zero, purchased treasury- and mortgage-backed securities, and provided federal loans to investment firms for the first time since the 1930s. He recognizes that he failed to lead the crisis in several ways, such as the ability to regulate banks and mortgages in an adequate manner. It is safe to say that the Federal Reserve changed substantially during Bernanke's tenure.