In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke's War on the Great Panic

• Publisher:   Crown Business
• Number Of Pages:   336
• Publication Date:   2009-08-04
• ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0307459683
• ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780307459688

“Whatever it takes” That was Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s vow as the worst financial panic in more than fifty years gripped the world and he struggled to avoid the once unthinkable: a repeat of the Great Depression. Brilliant but temperamentally cautious, Bernanke researched and wrote about the causes of the Depression during his career as an academic. Then when thrust into a role as one of the most important people in the world, he was compelled to boldness by circumstances he never anticipated. The president of the United States can respond instantly to a missile attack with America’s military might, but he cannot respond to a financial crisis with real money unless Congress acts. The Fed chairman can. Bernanke did. Under his leadership the Fed spearheaded the biggest government intervention in more than half a century and effectively became the fourth branch of government, with no direct accountability to the nation’s voters. Believing that the economic catastrophe of the 1930s was largely the fault of a sluggish and wrongheaded Federal Reserve, Bernanke was determined not to repeat that epic mistake. In this penetrating look inside the most powerful economic institution in the world, David Wessel illuminates its opaque and undemocratic inner workings, while revealing how the Bernanke Fed led the desperate effort to prevent the world’s financial engine from grinding to a halt. In piecing together the fullest, most authoritative, and alarming picture yet of this decisive moment in our nation’s history, In Fed We Trust answers the most critical questions. Among them: • What did Bernanke and his team at the Fed know–and what took them by surprise? Which of their actions stretched–or even ripped through–the Fed’s legal authority? Which chilling numbers and indicators made them feel they had no choice? • What were they thinking at pivotal moments during the race to sell Bear Stearns, the unsuccessful quest to save Lehman Brothers, and the virtual nationalization of AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac? What were they saying to one another when, as Bernanke put it to Wessel: “We came very close to Depression 2.0”? • How well did Bernanke, former treasury secretary Hank Paulson, and then New York Fed president Tim Geithner perform under intense pressure? • How did the crisis prompt a reappraisal of the once-impregnable reputation of Alan Greenspan? In Fed We Trust is a breathtaking and singularly perceptive look at a historic episode in American and global economic history.

Excellent book!!!! This book is very well written and provides a detailed play by play of the historic events that unfolded over the past couple years. It puts you inside the rooms where the decisions were being made and lets you know what the big players were thinking along the way. It also sheds some light onto what decisions were good and which may have been catastrophic. This book reads like a drama novel. I would highly recommend it to anyone who feels like they missed something but they don't want to be bored or confused while they find out.

David Wessel, The Wall Street Journal's economics editor, presents a measured and sobering account of the current financial crisis in his book, In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke's War on the Great Panic. At each new crisis moment, Bernanke pushes to do whatever it takes to avoid a depression. Wessel shows that at the time of each action, there was a lack of sufficient pessimism that things could get worse. Mostly, the Fed was wrong, and things did got worse. I was struck by the challenges for decision makers given the rapid deterioration of companies, and the limited number of alternatives. The fact that the Fed had $800 billion in assets that it could deploy without oversight was a shocker. This is a time period that will receive increasing scrutiny and analysis in coming years. This timely account presents one version of whether or not the actions were the best that could have been taken at the time. The costs of the Fed's decision s remain unknown, and Wessel's revelation of the Fed as a fourth branch of government gives all readers a chance to reflect on whether or not that's a situation that we as citizens will want to solidify. Rating: Three-star (Recommended)

David Wessel has provided just the right combination of even handed, informed analysis accompanied by a compelling historical narrative of the events that nearly led to (or perhaps they HAVE led to?) America's financial demise. He concentrates on the role of Ben Bernanke, who -- among the other players (Geithner, Paulson, et al.) -- emerges as the "hero" of the tale, if one can say that there are any such. Wessel also provides sufficient explanations of the financial arcana to guide the not well informed reader, and does so without tedium. A very good fun and informative read!

While I was in China, I was taught how great the communist party it is because it reformed the system so that things were getting better. They simply did not tell you what a miserable world they created. Ya, things getting better because Fed ruthlessly loot American savers to temporarily inflate the asset bubble. The worst is yet to coming. Shame on BB, shame on FED. END THE FED!!!!!!!!!!!

This book was very well written. I tried to read the House of Cards and it was too complex for me. This book was written in such a fashion that with a little effort it can be informative.

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