The great depression

Ten years ago, the economy was teetering. The government had seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Bank of America had bought a distressed Merrill Lynch, and 158-year-old Lehman Brothers had failed. The Federal Reserve loaned billions of dollars to prop up the global insurance giant American International Group. It cut interest rates to nearly zero and used Depression-era emergency powers. 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley wanted to know what the Chair of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, was thinking—and how he planned to save the American economy. Pelley called Bernanke's office and remembers being told, "The chairman of the Federal Reserve does not do interviews." But by 2009, the Fed was doing a lot of things it had never done before. In March of that year, Bernanke sat down for a 60 Minutes interview in an effort to be more transparent with the public. As unemployment continued to rise, he wanted to keep the American public informed of how the Fed was responding, so he … [Read more...] about The Federal Reserve, 10 years after the Great Recession

opinion Thuan Le Elston USA TODAY Published 4:00 AM EST Dec 23, 2018 It was Christmas afternoon, and my husband was getting Grinchy. This was a decade ago, when millions of Americans were losing their jobs in the Great Recession, and Bob and I had informed our children that presents would be scaled back. Still on Christmas morning, there were plenty of packages under our tree in Northern Virginia. We live in a three-generation household, so it’s not as if the grandparents were going to stop buying the kids what they wanted. After everything was opened, the 7-year-old happily played with his new loot, but Bob heard grumblings of dissatisfaction from the 10-year-old boy and the 9-year-old girl. He scolded them, but he didn't get upset until he saw the obscenely large pile of empty toy boxes stacked at the end of our driveway. That night, he had a hard time sleeping until he formulated a plan. Next morning, Bob called his grandfather in … [Read more...] about How Gramps’ Great Depression stories saved a Great Recession Christmas