Free Republic

Did Bernanke Prevent Another Great Depression? Politics / US Economy April 22, 2012 - 07:02 AM By: Frank Shostak In a lecture given at George Washington University on March 27, 2012, the chairman of the Fed said that the US central bank's aggressive response to the 2007–2009 financial crisis and recession helped prevent a worldwide catastrophe. Various economic indicators were showing ominous signs at the time. After closing at 3.1 percent in September 2007, the yearly rate of growth of industrial production fell to minus 14.8 percent by June 2009. The yearly rate of growth of housing starts fell from...

YouTubeWell this seems sure to be the buzzy Wall Street story of the day. It's also sure to be another PR nightmare for Goldman Sachs. Greg Smith, a Goldman Sachs executive director and head of the firm’s United States equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has announced he's quitting the firm in a most public manner: He did so by writing a long NYT op-ed denouncing what the firm has become. After nearly 12 years, he says, the place is as "toxic and destructive" as he's ever seen it. He slams the culture under Lloyd...