Meet Ben Bernanke: Depression Scholar, Superhero | Newsweek Business

The Failure Caucus
Daniel Gross 9/2/2009 12:00:00 AM
Most Americans have a lot riding on the success of the government's efforts to pull the U.S. economy out of its ditch: individual investors, bankers, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Democratic politicians, and taxpayers. A somewhat smaller group has a lot riding on the failure of these efforts. I'm not simply talking about investors who are betting against the markets and who believe the recent stock-market rally is overdone. I'm talking about the Failure Caucus, a group spanning the political spectrum that has invested reputations, egos, and, in some instances, their political futures on the notion that we're in for several more years of economic trauma.
Lecturing Bernanke
Michael Hirsh 8/28/2009 12:00:00 AM
Economist Stanley Fischer was Ben Bernanke's thesis advisor at MIT; he knew better than most that his former student had the right stuff to avert a depression. Bernanke was an "expert" at injecting liquidity into a sinking economy, Fischer said last year before the markets took their frightening plunge. Fischer had no doubt that Ben would do what it took (Ben did, earning himself a second term as Fed chairman this week). But serious questions remain in the minds of Fischer and other critics whether the most serious problem of the financial crisis—the too-big-to-fail issue—is proving too big for Bernanke and Washington's power elites to handle.
Why Bernanke’s Power Will Be ‘Curtailed’
Nancy Cook 8/26/2009 12:00:00 AM
If Ben Bernanke is confirmed for a second term at the Federal Reserve, he'll most likely face a country mired in double-digit unemployment with a deficit that's expected to balloon to $9 trillion. This is not a job everyone would want—overseeing and regulating the nation's banks during the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. But the Great Depression is one of Bernanke's specialities, a topic he tackled as a graduate student at MIT.
Bernanke Victimized by Identity Fraud Ring
Michael Isikoff 8/25/2009 12:00:00 AM
If ever there were living proof that identity theft can strike the mighty and powerful as well as hapless consumers, look no further than the nation's chief banker: Ben Bernanke. The Federal Reserve Board chairman was one of hundreds of victims of an elaborate identity-fraud ring, headed by a convicted scam artist known as "Big Head," that stole more than $2.1 million from unsuspecting consumers and at least 10 financial institutions around the country, according to recently filed court records reviewed by NEWSWEEK.
The Man Who Saved the World
Robert J. Samuelson 8/25/2009 12:00:00 AM
It would have been insane (not to be too subtle) for President Obama not to nominate Ben Bernanke to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. The economics dictated it, and so did the politics.
In The Fed We Trust
Daniel Gross 8/11/2009 12:00:00 AM
A podcast of their conversation can be heard here. Listeners can also subscribe to Dan's "Every Day I Read the Book" podcast on iTunes.