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'''Ben Shalom Bernanke'''<ref>Bernanke's first name is Ben, not Benjamin, and "Ben Shalom" is not abbreviated. (See: "[http://www.slate.com/id/2128630/ Big Ben]", ''Slate'', October 24, 2005; see also "[https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/nominations/106.html Presidential Nomination: Ben Shalom Bernanke]", ''George W. Bush White House'', January 2009)</ref> ({{IPAc-en|b|ər|ˈ|n|æ|ŋ|k|i}} {{respell|bər|NANG|kee}}; born December 13, 1953) is an American economist who served as the 14th [[chairman of the Federal Reserve]] from 2006 to 2014. After leaving the Federal Reserve, he was appointed a distinguished fellow at the [[Brookings Institution]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.brookings.edu/about/media-relations/news-releases/2014/0203-bernanke-hutchins-center | title = Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to Join Economic Studies at Brookings |publisher = Brookings | date = February 3, 2014 | access-date = February 3, 2014}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web|last=Amadeo|first=Kimberly|title=The Great Depression Expert Who Prevented the Second Great Depression|url=https://www.thebalance.com/federal-reserve-chairman-ben-bernanke-3306152|access-date=July 29, 2020|website=The Balance}}</ref> During his tenure as chairman, Bernanke oversaw the [[Federal Reserve]]'s response to the [[Financial crisis of 2007–2008|late-2000s financial crisis]], for which he was named the 2009 [[Time Person of the Year|''Time'' Person of the Year]].<ref name=":0" /> Before becoming Federal Reserve chairman, Bernanke was a tenured professor at [[Princeton University]] and chaired the [[Princeton University Department of Economics|
From August 5, 2002, until June 21, 2005, he was a member of the [[Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System]], proposed the [[Bernanke doctrine]], and first discussed "[[Great Moderation|the Great Moderation]]"—the theory that traditional business cycles have declined in volatility in recent decades through structural changes that have occurred in the international economy, particularly increases in the economic stability of developing nations, diminishing the influence of macroeconomic (monetary and fiscal) policy.
Bernanke then served as chairman of President [[George W. Bush]]'s [[Council of Economic Advisers]] before President Bush nominated him to succeed [[Alan Greenspan]] as chairman of the United States [[Federal Reserve]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Andrews|first=Edmund L.|date=October 24, 2005|title=Bush Nominates Bernanke to Succeed Greenspan as Fed Chief|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/24/business/bush-nominates-bernanke-to-succeed-greenspan-as-fed-chief.html|access-date=July 29, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> His first term began on February 1, 2006.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ben S. Bernanke formally sworn in to second term as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System|url=https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/other20100203a.htm|access-date=July 29, 2020|website=Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System}}</ref> Bernanke was confirmed for a second term as chairman on January 28, 2010, after being renominated by President [[Barack Obama]], who later referred to him as "the epitome of calm."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/yellen-obama-choice-succeed-bernanke-fed-article-1.1480306 |publisher=[[Mort Zuckerman]]|date=October 9, 2013|agency=Associated Press|title= Obama nominates Janet Yellen to succeed Bernanke at Federal Reserve}}</ref> His second term ended on January 31, 2014, when he was succeeded by [[Janet Yellen]] on February 3, 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Yellen sworn in as Fed chair in brief ceremony|url=https://apnews.com/73268c26d2be4c49b17d558846a49465|access-date=July 29, 2020|website=The Associated Press|date=February 3, 2014 }}</ref>
Bernanke wrote about his time as chairman of the Federal Reserve in his 2015 book, ''The Courage to Act'', in which he revealed that the world's economy came close to collapse in 2007 and 2008. Bernanke asserts that it was only the novel efforts of the Fed (cooperating with other US agencies and agencies of other governments) that prevented an economic catastrophe greater than the [[Great Depression]].<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/books/review/ben-bernankes-the-courage-to-act.html?_r=0 |work=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 8, 2013|first=Michael|last=Kinsley|title= Ben Bernanke's 'The Courage to Act'}}</ref>
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===Young adult===
As a teenager, Bernanke worked construction on a hospital and waited tables at a restaurant at nearby [[South of the Border (attraction)|South of the Border]], which was a roadside attraction, amusement park, and fireworks retailer
===Religion===
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===Merrill Lynch merger with Bank of America===
In a letter to Congress from then-[[New York State Attorney General]] [[Andrew Cuomo]] dated April 23, 2009, Bernanke was mentioned along with former Treasury Secretary [[Henry Paulson]] in allegations of fraud concerning the acquisition of [[Merrill Lynch]] by [[Bank of America]]. The letter alleged that the extent of the losses at Merrill Lynch
Congressional hearings into these allegations were conducted on June 25, 2009, with Bernanke testifying that he did not bully Lewis. Under intense questioning by members of Congress, Bernanke said, "I never said anything about firing the board and the management [of Bank of America]." In further testimony, Bernanke said the Fed did nothing illegal or unethical in its efforts to convince Bank of America not to end the merger. Lewis told the panel that authorities expressed "strong views" but said he would not characterize their stance as improper.<ref>"Lawmakers hit out at Paulson over BofA-Merrill". Reuters.
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His remarks were most likely intended for the federal government's executive and legislative branches,<ref>{{Cite news | last1 = Irwin | first1 = Neil | last2 = Montgomery | first2 = Lori | title = Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sounds a warning on growing deficit | newspaper = The Washington Post | date = April 8, 2010 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/07/AR2010040703116.html?hpid=sec-business | access-date = April 14, 2010 }}</ref> since entitlement reform is a [[fiscal policy|fiscal]] exercise that will be accomplished by the [[United States Congress|Congress]] and the [[President of the United States|President]]<ref>{{Cite news | last = Samuelson | first = Robert J. | title = Let Them Go Bankrupt, Soon: Solving Social Security and Medicare | newspaper = [[Newsweek]] | date = May 23, 2009 | url = http://www.newsweek.com/id/199167 | access-date = April 15, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100418194113/http://www.newsweek.com/id/199167| archive-date= April 18, 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | last = Scherer | first = Michael | title = Can Obama Actually Achieve Entitlement Reform? | newspaper = Time | date = February 23, 2009 | url = http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1881223,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090225174307/http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1881223,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = February 25, 2009 | access-date = April 15, 2010}}</ref> rather than a [[monetary policy|monetary]] task falling within the implementation powers of the Federal Reserve. Bernanke also pointed out that deficit reduction will necessarily consist of either raising taxes, cutting entitlement payments and other [[government spending]], or some combination of both.<ref>{{Cite news | last1 = Chan | first1 = Sewell | last2 = Hernandez | first2 = Javier | title = Bernanke Says Nation Must Take Action Soon to Shape Fiscal Future | newspaper = The New York Times | date = April 7, 2010 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/business/economy/08fed.html | access-date = April 14, 2010 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100412184428/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/business/economy/08fed.html| archive-date= April 12, 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref>
==Nobel Prize==
In 2022 Bernanke was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences along with [[Philip H. Dybvig]] and [[Douglas Diamond]]. Their research suggested that the Great Depression was caused by a variety of factors including credit market stress and a failing gold standard. With a rising [[External Finance Premium]] lenders and borrowers were both inclined to protect their financial health due to stressed credit markets. Lenders began tightening credit standards and avoiding risky borrowers while borrowers withdrew their cash. These self-preservation decisions from both lenders and borrowers resulted in further stress on the credit market and stagnation in investment spending. In addition to stressed credit markets, the failing gold standard also played a crucial role. After World War 1 most countries had their currencies tied to gold as well as fixed exchange rates, however, post-war animosity between many European nations led to non-cooperation regarding the gold standard. Consequently, the gold standard failed in the late 1920s, bringing prices, money supply, and output down with it. Their research showed that the combination of a failing gold standard and stressed credit markets led to a catastrophic spiral in the economy.
==Personal life==
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* [[2008–2009 Keynesian resurgence]]
* [[List of Jewish Nobel laureates]]
* [[Ben Bernanke’s Nobel Prize Lecture, “Banking, Credit, and Economic Fluctuations”]]
==Footnotes==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=}}
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* {{cite book|author1=Milton Friedman|author2=Anna Jacobson Schwartz|author3=National Bureau of Economic Research|title=The Great Contraction, 1929-1933|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-lCArZfazBkC&q=%22Regarding+the+Great+Depression+You%27re+right+We+did+it%22&pg=PP1 |year=2008|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-13794-0 |page=247|chapter=B. Bernanke's speech to M. Friedman}}
* Lowenstein, Roger (January 20, 2008). [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/magazine/20Ben-Bernanke-t.html?scp=2&sq=bernanke "The Education of Ben Bernanke"]. ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]''.
* Bernanke, Ben S. 2023. "Nobel Lecture: Banking, Credit, and Economic Fluctuations." American Economic Review, 113 (5): 1143-69.
==Further reading==
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