Ben Bernanke is best known as the leader of the Federal Reserve during a momentous time of economic and financial crisis. Bernanke served as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve System under two Presidents—George W. Bush and Barack Obama—and was front and center during a tumultuous period of economic history. During the Great Recession and the Global Financial Crisis, he was at the helm of the Fed and was instrumental in developing new policy tools to restore liquidity to financial markets, stabilize the banking sector and help the economy recover. Previously, he was a tenured Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University where he became involved in the Federal Reserve System as a scholar and advisor. Bernanke is the author of a wide variety of articles on economic issues and is currently a Distinguished Fellow in Residence at The Brookings Institution.
THE FED
As Chairman of the Board, Bernanke led the Fed's response to the financial crisis of 2006 to 2010. He took unprecedented steps to implement quantitative easing.
He has also been credited with enhancing the Federal Reserve’s transparency and communications by holding quarterly press conferences to explain the decisions of the Federal Open Market Committee.
He positioned the Fed as the “lender of the last resort” and played a key role in “bailing out” Wall Street investment banks.
Bernanke took over the helm from Alan Greenspan in Feb. 2006, ending Greenspan's 18-year leadership at the Fed. He was replaced by Janet Yellen.
RESPONSE TO CRISIS
He took an aggressive and experimental approach to restore confidence in the financial system.
Under his leadership, the Fed slashed the benchmark interest rates near to zero.
As conditions worsened, Bernanke proposed a quantitative easing program. It involved the unconventional purchase of Treasury bond securities and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to increase the money supply in the economy.
Critics argue that he flooded the economy with too much money, contributing to inflation and increased debt.
EXPERTISE
Bernanke is one of the founders of the field macro-finance and is best known for his work on the Great Depression and financial accelerator literature.
He was also essential in establishing the inflation targeting framework, both intellectually and in the real world.
His research interests are wide-ranging and have included macroeconomics, finance, monetary economics, and economic history.
EARLY CAREER
Prior to his appointment as Federal Reserve Chairman, Dr. Bernanke’s distinguished career includes serving as Chairman of President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers and as a key member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Throughout his career, Bernanke has published many articles on a wide variety of economic issues, including monetary policy and macroeconomics.
During his distinguished tenure at Princeton, he shaped Princeton and taught at the graduate and undergraduate levels.
He also served as a Senior Adviser at PIMCO and Vice President of the American Economic Association.