"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.
"From the Hardcover edition."
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