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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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Bankers Saved the World: Bernanke

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(Newser) – Ben Bernanke patted himself on the back today for helping to save the world from a complete economic meltdown, MarketWatch reports. Facing public outrage and the prospect of President Obama dumping him in 6 months, the Fed chair said at a retreat in Wyoming that the world’s central banks “responded with speed and force" to "a rapidly deteriorating and dangerous situation."

Their quick response “averted the imminent collapse of the global financial system," Bernanke said. With a series of quick moves—cutting interest rates and approving TARP funds among them—officials helped avert "an outcome that seemed all too possible to the finance ministers and central bankers.” While praising policies, Bernanke devoted few words to the cause of the crisis: “There was little to suggest that market participants saw the financial situation as about to take a sharp turn for the worse.”

Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke, right, chats with European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet, center, and Bank of Japan governor Masaaki Shirakawa.
Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke, right, chats with European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet, center, and Bank of Japan governor Masaaki Shirakawa.   (AP Photo)
Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke arrives at a dinner preceding the annual conference of the Federal Reserve in Jackson, Wyo.
Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke arrives at a dinner preceding the annual conference of the Federal Reserve in Jackson, Wyo.   (AP Photo)
Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill July 22, 2009 in Washington, DC.
Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill July 22, 2009 in Washington, DC.   (Getty Images)
Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill July 22, 2009 in Washington, DC.
Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill July 22, 2009 in Washington, DC.   (Getty Images)
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The world has been through the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression. As severe as the economic impact has been, however, the outcome could have been decidedly worse. - Ben Bernanke

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12 comments
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JonmarkP
Aug 21, 09 5:11 PM CDT
What colossal, mind-numbing arrogance! Like insurance companies, bankers don't actually produce squat-they only manage (and steal from) the assets of people who actually HAVE produced something-factories, farms, service industries and other goods and services created by working people. Makes it doubly ironic that the Mullets (working people or former workers every one) are such tools for the very people taking advantage of them. I wish I could attribute that to something other than a mix of stupidity and child-like gullibility, but I can't. Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
Robert_Dada
Aug 22, 09 12:49 PM CDT
Banking is a service industry and you would be lost without it. Certainly greed has run amok but please don't be so foolish as to believe you could exist as you do today without banking.
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JonmarkP
Aug 21, 09 5:14 PM CDT
Dear God, who the hell CREATED the "global financial crisis" in the first place? Greenspan, Bernanke, and the people like him! And these dipshits want props for *saving the world*? If you presented this as the plot for a novel, no one would publish it. Reply
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pjl
Aug 21, 09 6:00 PM CDT
Say what? They created the mess in the first place. By over inflating the housing market and failing to regulate CDOs and CDSs. Now *we* are supposed to be grateful? They should be grateful for bailing them out. Wall Street made the mess now it is us on Main Street who are suffering and forced to bail them out. Jerks. Reply
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+7
pjl
Aug 21, 09 6:02 PM CDT
And another thing. Bernanke was on both the Fed and the Presidents Economic Council of Advisers when this was brewing. did He blow the whistle? Give speeches? Urge caution? No. He blew it. He is as culpable as the rest. Reply
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