Ben Bernanke was wrong.

Whatever he actually thought, would you really expect him, in the position he held at the time, to publicly say "OMG!!! We're facing a financial crisis of major magnitude!!!"?
 
Whatever he actually thought, would you really expect him, in the position he held at the time, to publicly say "OMG!!! We're facing a financial crisis of major magnitude!!!"?
I expect at least some honesty out of people with his influence. He doesn't have to panic but at the same time he should be more honest than he was. Amazing how much the Fed and their leaders can get away with.
 
I expect at least some honesty out of people with his influence. He doesn't have to panic but at the same time he should be more honest than he was. Amazing how much the Fed and their leaders can get away with.

It's not as simple as honesty. Markets react emotionally, not logically, much of the time. By being honestly pessimistic, Bernanke could have set off something that would have been considerably worse than what actually happened.

I have no way of knowing whether Bernanke knew and was trying whatever possible to avoid it becoming even worse; neither do you. But it's pretty much a given that warning of what was in store would not have helped the situation in any way and would likely have worsened it.

Honesty is not always useful or wise.
 
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I didn't say he had to be 100% percent honest. Going somewhere in the middle would have been okay.
 
I didn't say he had to be 100% percent honest. Going somewhere in the middle would have been okay.

What would you want him to have said that wouldn't potentially make the situation worse? And how would it have made the situation better?
 
What would you want him to have said that wouldn't potentially make the situation worse? And how would it have made the situation better?
When asked about the worst case scenario, he should have acknowledged there are possibilities that may happen. He's not being completely honest, but not lying either. It wouldn't make the situation better but at least there would be some honesty with a person who has a lot of influence in this country. It's a possibility he may not have been lying at all, and may just not be very bright.
 
Again, I ask you how that would have made the situation better? And would have made it enough better to balance the risk?
 
Again, I ask you how that would have made the situation better? And would have made it enough better to balance the risk?
Maybe the country would have tightened its belt a little, and stopped racking up trillions in debt for unsustainable programs.

Probably not, though.
 
Maybe the country would have tightened its belt a little, and stopped racking up trillions in debt for unsustainable programs.

Probably not, though.

Like SS and Medicare?

I understand why Bernanke did what he did, they were running scared and the last thing they/he wanted to do was exacerbate the problem. The thing that really, really pisses me off is it got this far. This problem was preventable but congress was "bought off", regulations were relaxed, non existent or not enforced. There should never have been "too big to fail" institutions. They knew it then and they know it now yet nothing is being done to stop this from happening again... and it will.
 
Like SS and Medicare?

I understand why Bernanke did what he did, they were running scared and the last thing they/he wanted to do was exacerbate the problem. The thing that really, really pisses me off is it got this far. This problem was preventable but congress was "bought off", regulations were relaxed, non existent or not enforced. There should never have been "too big to fail" institutions. They knew it then and they know it now yet nothing is being done to stop this from happening again... and it will.

This. A thousand times this.

It's continuing to happen over and over again. They gamble, and get rich off the payoffs. When they lose, they still get richer, and the rest of us pay for the losses.