Bernanke, whose views on monetary policy were shaped by his scholarly work on the Great Depression, has seen losses at the world's biggest banks and securities dealers balloon to $195 billion since the start of last year, culminating in the collapse last week of the fifth-largest securities firm, Bear Stearns Cos.
Bernanke has failed to calm the turmoil, which his predecessor Alan Greenspan calls the ``most wrenching'' since the end of World War II, even after lowering the overnight rate five times since September and committing to pump an unprecedented $400 billion in cash and securities into the banking system.
Everyone is talking about Bear Sterns, but don't forget that 241 US lending institutions have already gone belly up since 2006. That's up from 109 last August.
3. Oil Rises on Speculation of Dollar Drop on Interest Rate Cut
In which the relationship between the price of oil, the plunging dollar and the falling interest rates is cited. Kind of makes a fella nostalgic for the good old days of pre-Iraq War 2003, when oil was only $25 a barrel.
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