According to Wednesday’s The Wall Street Journal:
“Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, a prominent student of the Great Depression, contends that the 2008 financial crisis was actually worse than its 1930s counterpart.
Mr. Bernanke is quoted as making the statement in a document filed on Aug. 22 with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims as part of a lawsuit linked to the 2008 government bailout of insurance giant American International Group Inc.
‘September and October of 2008 was the worst financial crisis in global history, including the Great Depression,’ Mr. Bernanke is quoted as saying in the document filed with the court. Of the 13 ‘most important financial institutions in the United States, 12 were at risk of failure within a period of a week or two.’
Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is quoted in the document offering a similarly apocalyptic assessment. From Sept. 6 through Sept. 22, the economy was essentially ‘in free fall,’ he said.”
Who was President when the government took the necessary actions so that we had a recession, not another Great Depression? Who was in charge at this critical time? Who made the final decisions? George W. Bush, of course.
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