Templeton and others predicted the economic bust based on poor practices compared to historically sound practices. Those who stood by their convictions -- that is put their money where their mouthes were -- profited.
It is not the job of the Federal Reserve to predict and correct bubbles. Those that believe this are stoking the fires for more government interference in our economy. Couple the MSM's propaganda with some dems that want to tighten the relationship between the US Treasury and the Fed Reserve, and you have a scenario where the POTUS could effectively set Federal Reserve Policy.
I would agree with your comments on the Fed in the main, but they have done a terrible job in their responsibilities. It is not the job of the Fed to eliminate healthy recessions. This seems to have been their objective by mispricing the cost of money, which leads to asset price bubbles. As well, as regulator of banks, they stood by as banks levered up to insane levels. Little has been done to correct their gross errors.