In Fed we trust : Ben Bernanke's war on the great panic /

Wessel, David 1954-

In Fed we trust : Ben Bernanke's war on the great panic / David Wessel. - 1st pbk ed. - New York : Three Rivers Press, c2010. - x, 341 p. ; 21 cm.

"How the federal reserve became the fourth branch of government"--Cover. "With an epilogue on how the U.S. economy--and Ben Bernake--fared in 2010"--Cover. Originally published in hardback by Crown Business in 2009.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [325]-326) and index.

Whatever it takes -- Let Ol' Lehman go: the pivotal weekend of September 12-14, 2008 -- "Periodical financial debauches": the long forgotten history of the Fed -- Age of delusion: what Greenspan wrought -- There are Jews in Boston, too: who is Ben Bernanke? -- Pas de Deux: the Great Panic begins in August 2007 -- The four musketeers: Bernanke's brain trust: Bernanke, Kohn, Warsh, and Geithner -- RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Blue Sky: The Fed's first response to the Great Panic -- Running from behind: how the Fed got behind the curve, and how it caught up -- "Unusual and exigent": Bear Stearns, the first rescue -- Fannie, Freddie, and "Feddie": taking over Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and pondering next steps -- Breaking the glass: the fallout from Lehman and AIG and going to Congress--finally -- "Socialism with American characteristics": forcing taxpayer capital on the banks -- Word of ZIRP: the Fed gets rates to zero -- Did Bernanke keep his promise to Milton Friedman?: the early verdict -- It could have been worse.

In this penetrating look inside the most powerful economic institution in the world, the Federal Reserve, David Wessel illuminates its opaque and undemocratic inner workings, while revealing how its chairman Ben Bernanke led the desperate effort to prevent the world's financial engine from grinding to a halt.

9780307459695 (pbk.) 0307459691 (pbk.)


Bernanke, Ben 1953-


Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.)
Junta de Gobernadores del Sistema de la Reserva Federal de los Estados Unidos


Banks and banking, Central--United States.
Financial crises--United States.
Monetary policy--United States.
Bancos centrales--Estados Unidos
Crisis financiera--Estados Unidos
Politica monetaria--Estados Unidos

HG 2565 / W515f 2010

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