I called Ben S. Bernanke, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, late in the debt-ceiling standoff.
In 2014, he stepped down as Fed chair, after leading it through the global financial crisis.
Now, at 69, he is a scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, devoting himself mainly to research and writing.
His research, showing “that bank crises can potentially have catastrophic consequences” and illustrating “the importance of well-functioning bank regulation,” earned him a Nobel Prize in economics in 2022.
That academic work, and the changes he made at the Fed, have altered the way we understand financial news, even if he is making fewer headlines himself.
Persons:
Ben S, Bernanke, hadn’t, ” Mr, ”
Organizations:
Federal Reserve, Brookings Institution
Locations:
Washington