Fed Chairman Bernanke on 60 Minutes

In case you missed it, 60 Minutes conducted an historic interview with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. Bernanke is the chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, better known as the Fed.

The words of any Fed chairman cause fortunes to rise and fall and so, by tradition, chairmen of the Fed do not do interviews - that is until now.

Bernanke's comments have had more soothing impact on Americans than any other government representative. At the time of this interview on March 14, the US had experienced another devastating 2 months in the stock market--and many commentators were prepared to declare The Great Depression II death knell.

A couple days later in US News & World Report they opined, It takes an extraordinary set of circumstances to get a sitting Fed chief into the interview chair, but these are extraordinary times.

Ben Bernanke's appearance on "60 Minutes" Sunday night was a great public relations move.

Calling a lack of "political will" in stabilizing the banking system the "biggest risk" facing the economy, Bernanke is putting added pressure on an increasingly testy Congress.

I have captured this two-part interview for posterity--and for your viewing.





Here is part two.