and, ben bernanke did not respond to the growing threat of derivatives. bernanke failed to respond to the increase of. mr. pryor: tear trading that amplified risk in both depository lending institutions and our financial system as a whole. mr. merkley: again, let me put this more simply. gambling on stocks and bonds and derivatives is fundamentally incompatible with bank stabili stability. but bernanke did not respond. ben bernanke supported and advocated for policies that reduced capital and increased leverage in both commercial banks and investment banks greatly magnifying risk across the system. he supported greenspan's philosophy of deregulation and self-regulation. he advocated for bozel2. it was to say to the largest banks in america you can set your own leverage ratios. what did that result in? that resulted in banks going to 30-1 leverage. now, if you invest money 30-1 in an up market, it's a killer. you make all kinds of money. but when you're at 30-1 leverage and the market turns down, you blow up immediately. now, there is not an analyst in amer

guest: who is next if the ben bernanke? it is up to the president.know who will be. i hope it would be someone who would not be a political figure, somebody committed to transparency and accountability for the federal reserve so the taxpayer can see how their money is being spent and be assured there are no winners and losers being picked based on political inclinations. is in every public officials, there are good things and bad the spirit i grant that he did a lot -- i grant that he did a lot. but just look at the troubled assets relief program. the latest report shows the 54 civil and criminal investigations under way into how tarp funds were being used for inappropriate purposes, fraud and the like. i worry because of lack of transparency and accountability that the public has simply lost confidence. when it comes to our economy, our fans -- financial markets, confidence is important. i think the good thing would be for ben bernanke to move on and have the president nominate somebody new. guest: the massachusetts election% as it did this. before

and comment ben bernanke did not respond to the growing threat of derivatives. bernanke failed to respond to the increase in proprietary trading. identified risk in both depository, lending institutions and their financial system as a whole. again let me put this more simply. gambling on stocks and bonds and derivatives is fundamentally incompatible with thanks stability. but bernanke did not respond. ben bernanke supported policies that reduce capital and increased leverage in both commercial banks and investment banks, greatly magnifying risk across the system. he supported green-- greenspan's philosophy of deregulation and self-regulation. he advocated for basel ii and what was basel ii? basel ii was the same to the largest banks in america you can set their own leverage ratios. what did that results in? that resulted in things going to 30-1 leverage. now if you invest money 30-1 in an up market is a killing. and you make all kinds of money. but when you are at 30-1 leverage in the market turns down, you blow up immediately. now, there is not an analyst in ame

ben bernanke's war on the great panic. which actually has a second subtitle as i read it. not every book has two subtitles, david. how the federal reserve became the fourth bank branch of government. it's a fascinating book. >> guest: thank you. >> host: and i think i should make that clear. at the outset. you take the reader step-by-step through the crisis of the last couple of years from the eyes of the chairman of the federal reserve, ben bernanke. so the book lets you see what dan and his colleagues weresed,d why they did what they did, the internal tensions and uncertainties, and how they were learning along the way. you're a very good translator of fed speech by the way. and i've been known to speak fed speak, though i always tried not to. [laughter] >> host: but the last couple of years were a wild ride at the fed, and it's not necessarily over yet. i was watching closely during this period, but i learned a lot from this book. there are other books about the crisis, quite a few of them. mostly on particular episodes like layman or bear sterns. but this one gives a v

so, let's start by talking a little bit about ben bernanke and why you think this was true. what did he learn from being a scholar of the great depression flexible? >> guest: bin bernanke when he was a student of economics at harvard and mit became very interested in the work a great economist milton friedman and anna schwartz did that pinned the blame for the great depression on the federal reserve. the federal reserve was too tight with credit at the wrong moment. the federal reserve was captured by the economic orthodoxy of its de and hammered with the gold standard and managed to create the great depression or take the recession and turn it into the great depression. friedman and schwartz said the banks failed as a result of that. bernanke brought the argument but he added one important amendment, and the amendment was the failure of the banks themselves made the great depression of works, and that insight, that work of history turned out to be enormously relevant when this crisis hit, because after all but remember what happened here, we had a house in kabul that burst,

wessel looks at the will played by federal chairman ben bernanke following the 2008 economic collapse. he discusses his book with allyson rivn current senior fellow at the brookings institution. >> host: hello. i am alice rivlin, and it is my pleasure to be talking to david wessel about his book, "in fed we trust" been bernanke's war of the great panic which actually has a second subtitled, not every book has to subtitles, david. how the federal reserve became the fourth bank of the branch of government. it's a fascinating book. >> guest: thank you. >> host: i loved it, and i think i should make that clear. at the outset, you take the readers step by step through the crisis of the last couple of years from the eyes of the chairman of the federal reserve bin bernanke, so the book lets you see what m.a.d.d. and his colleagues weret they missed, why they did what they did not, the internal tension and uncertainty of how they were learning along the way. you are a very good translator of federal speak by the way, and i have been known to speak did speak although i always try not to but th

ben bernanke urges prevention of crisis. we will show you some of his comments from sunday when he spoke at an annual meeting for the academic economics annual meeting association. open-" policy -- "policy was at best for home prices. for one thing, there were many home price bubbles in many parts of the world. new zealand and sweden had tighter monetary policy, yet their home prices rose a more." marion, illinois. good morning. republican line. welcome. caller: good morning. i wanted to comment on the people instead of the politicians this morning. the fighting that we do between the democrats and republicans are whether the system works off of our attitude. the country has got a bad attitude. we can change that. we can change the direction we are going just by get along and quitting our fighting, cussing, and arguing, like them -- like politicians do. any comment on that? hosed though i do not have any comment, but thank you for yours -- host: i do not have any comment, but thank you for yours. eureka, california. good mor

now, you're basic judgment as i get is many people including ben bernanke and his predecessor, alan greenspan should have seen the potential for the meltdown that happened in the financial system enacted to head off but they didn't. and once the crisis happened, bernanke was the right man in the right place, so he is something of a hero of this volume. let's start by talking a little bit about ben bernanke and what you think this was true. what did he learn from being a scholar of the great depression for example? >> guest: well, you know, ben bernanke when he was a student of economics at harvard and m.i.t. he became interested in the work eckert economist milton friedman and anna schwartz did basically pinned the blame for the great depression on the federal reserve to read that the federal reserve was too tight with credit at the wrong moment. the federal reserve was captured by the economic orthodoxy enamored with the gold standard and managed to create the great depression or take recession and turn it into the great depression. friedman and schwartz said the banks failed as a result of

host: "the washington post" this morning writes about -- several papers this morning write about ben bernanke, that says paul volcker, former federal reserve chairman and advisor to president obama, said he was concerned that the fed could be left in a vacuum, "bernanke has been through a fire and, given the experience he has had, eighth lot more experience -- he's a lot more experienced and more qualified than he was four years ago qutsdz. if bernanke were reject, volcker added, i don't think that would be received well at home or abroad. anxiety began to build around the fate of bernanke's reappointment within hours after republicans seized a crucial 41st senate seat, throwing president obama's healthcare bill, the entire democratic agenda, into chaos. the front page of the "wall street journal" talks about many things, but also takes a look at the stock market. several investors and people who study these things saying the fate of bernanke also leading to the current condition of the stock market, which you see there in the graphic. good morning to tom on our republican line. before weathe

virginia, gary, your thoughts on ben bernanke and regulation on the part of the fed?iate you taking my call. i had to use every gray sell that i had to try to understand ben bernanke last night. i was listening to him on the radio talking about that regulation. i agree with him. i still got a headache. it just packed my brain. i really had a hard time. it is complicated and complex. another thing that i have to say that i think is important, our uso shows in iraq and afghanistan, i was watching them last year. they were making vulgar, juvenile jokes about the middle eastern women in their culture. host: but shows are you referring to? caller: the uso shows we were putting on. i was watching the pentagon channel. host: is that where you can see them? ok. caller: i was really appalled. i was raised overseas. i went to uso shows. we used to have officials and local nationals, an indigenous personnel from that country. just to hear the jokes that those comedians were making, if i was a base commander i would have had the mp's drag those people off stage. this was appallin

that is why there will be lots of no votes against ben bernanke. the white house might be wondering if they should have chosen someone else. we're still in the middle of getting out of the mess we are in. the economy is only now back on track. the white house figure the best thing for markets and certainty was to stick with the horse you already have host: you write that ben bernanke is in the midst of fighting for the fed's future on capitol hill. members are poised to cut back on the power of the central bank. guest: well, speaking of the financial reform legislation, the house has already passed the bill and the senate is still in the committee process. there is a strong sense that they want to curb some of the influence of the fed, especially in the senate to. also some of its supervisory powers. the administration's proposal had a central role for the fed. the house cut it back a little. but the senate wants to curb the role even more. you see this fed backlash over the months. host: our guest was educated at dartmouth college and at the londo

ben bernanke cost term ends on sunday. here's a look -- ben bernanke's term ends on sunday. here's a look, "the stock market is in a fragile state after having lost 5% of its value last week. the dow jones industrial average has fallen 537 points off in its worst week since march. the downturn was precipitated largely by dimming prospects for big banks in the wake of the president's populist proposals to tax them and limit their size and trading activities to prevent further need for government bailout. but the route could worsen this week as populist sentiment against wall street bailouts conflicts with ben bernanke's term coming up." this is an article from mike allen, who interviewed timothy geithner last week. "when asked about the possible market reaction with the feed, timothy geithner mentioned that it would be very troubling tolee did not think they should be on certain, they should be confident, because he was confident that they would be reconfirmed. caller: i think that bases are holding these banks and processors accountable for fraud. many, many people are distr

and, ben bernanke did not respond to the growing threat of derivatives. bernanke failed to respond to the increase of. mr. pryor: tear trading that amplified risk in both depository lending institutions and our financial system as a whole. mr. merkley: again, let me put this more simply. gambling on stocks and bonds and derivatives is fundamentally incompatible with bank stabili stability. but bernanke did not respond. ben bernanke supported and advocated for policies that reduced capital and increased leverage in both commercial banks and investment banks greatly magnifying risk across the system. he supported greenspan's philosophy of deregulation and self-regulation. he advocated for bozel2. it was to say to the largest banks in america you can set your own leverage ratios. what did that result in? that resulted in banks going to 30-1 leverage. now, if you invest money 30-1 in an up market, it's a killer. you make all kinds of money. but when you're at 30-1 leverage and the market turns down, you blow up immediately. now, there is not an analyst in amer

host: ben bernanke, what is your prediction? will he go down in defeat? guest: i think it is fluid right now. i think there will be more senators who will speak up and say there will not support his re-confirmation for the reasons i said, that we need a fresh start. i think they can happen best with a new chairman. host: that sounds like he may be defeated. guest:ç i may be hedging my be. -- my bet. if people like me are coming to the conclusion they cannot support his confirmation, quiet predict i am not the only one. i think it makes it more likely that his re-nomination will fail. i cannot predict. guest: any major piece of legislation will pass this year? if you had to say there was one thing. guest: we could pass a common- sense health bill throu. small-business health-insurance plans, medical liability reform, greater competition -- >> jobs bill? guest: that is what the voters are most concerned about. and what they see as job-killing policies coming out of washington, including this health bill. there is plenty of room for tax cuts on small busine

ben bernanke. figures for the financial crisis. jeremy hubbard has more. >> the head of the for a reserve says the central bank is not to blame for the financial crisis. ben bernanke said weak regulation was responsible for the housing bubble. he has been asking congress to grant the fed greater oversight powers. critics argue the fed kept rates too low after the 2001 recession. this week on wall street could t the tone for the rest of the year. investors will be watching for what is known as the january effect, where stocks often rise to start a new year. if the first five days are up, the year often finishes at the same way. the world's tallest tower opened in dubai today. it is part of the effort to become a world wide hub for business. the tower's height is a closely kept secret. there are more than 160 flores creek is part of a $20 billion complex. analysts say the tower is unlikely to be profitable on its own. two" -- ""avatar" took in more and $1 billion. james cameron is responsible for one other, "titanic." 2009 was a reco

ben bernanke was not only appointed by george w. bush to be chairman of the fed, madam president, he was a member of the bush administration. in fact, he was the chairman of president bush's council of economic advisors. why do you not want to reappoint somebody who not only failed at his job as chairman of the fed in terms of protecting the safety and soundness of our financial institutions, but was an architect of the bush economy, which was a disaster for american workers. madam president, we need a new direction at the fed. and it's not only looking back at the failures of mr. bernanke, it is looking forward and saying, how can the fed respond to begin to protect the middle class and working families of our country? and here's something that has not been discussed enough. the fed today has enormous powers. now, many will remember that as part of the bailout, mr. bernanke and the bush administration not only pushed "if a $7 -- not only pushed for a $700 billion bailout for wall street, but on top of that, mr. bernanke provided tr

but for the short-term, ben bernanke injeshticted lots of f into the economy and propped up the financial sector and the housing market an props things up generally over the course of 2009. >> all right. you should have seen steve's fingernails dig into this plexiglass desk we have here. steve, go ahead. >> in terms of the president taking credit what turned the market around was, i hate to say it, was congress, not the white house or the fed or treasury, anyone else in march when they changed a regulatory rule, forced regulators to change mark to market. >> this is steve forbes giving credit to a democratic congress! stop the presses. >> sometimes it happens? nancy says you're welcome, steve. >> the fact of the matter is they held hearings and forced the change and the stock market turned to stop the bleeding at the banks more than anything the white house did and congress -- >> and who do you give credit. >> he's giving credit to congress, for am the using his idea, he was with the idea on mark 0 market and jamie dimon should put a statue of obama next to the bulls on wall street and sh

centers are expected to take up the nomination of ben bernanke for another term. his current term ends on sunday. they will consider a bill to provide emergency aid to the u.s. survivors in the earthquake in haiti. >> wednesday, president obama delivers his first state of the union address to congress, laying out his vision -- his vision to the future of the country and his ideas on unemployment, health care, and the wars in iraq and afghanistan. our coverage starts at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. you can also listen to the president's address live on what your iphone with d.c.'s own greed -- with the c-span radio app. science professor from the johns hopkins school for advanced political policy. what is our policy currently in latin america and how different is it from the bush administration? >> we really don't have a policy to latin america. that is not a fault of the obama administration. the euna states needs universal bilateral policies in certain regions. there are many long past policies for the night states -- the united states need to direct -- different

ben bernanke has been asking congress to grant the fed greater oversight powers over the financial systemitics argue that the fed kept rates too low after the 2001 recession fueling reckless lending by banks. >>> this week on wall street could set the tone for the rest of the year. investors will be watching for what is known as the january effect. a phenomenon where stocks often rise to start a new year. if the first five trading days of january are up the year often finishes the same way. that was the case last year. >>> the world's tallest tower opens in dubai today. it's part of the city state's effort to become a worldwide hub for business despite its shaky financial footing. the tower height is a closely kept secret but there are more than 160 floors. it's part of a $20 billion complex though analysts say the tower is unlikely to be profitable on its own. >>> "avatar" has gone where few films have gone before. it took in $68 million in ticket sales in the u.s. this weekend pushing its worldwide total past $1 billion. it's only the fifth movie ever to reach that milestone. the direct

ben bernanke as chairman of the federal reserve board. mr. bernanke has been serving as chairman of the federal reserve board -- and i'll be the first to say that i think there are things that mr. bernanke has done that are very important to this country. he steered our country in a very difficult circumstance. there was a time when our economy could have near completely collapsed, which would have been devastating. it was teetering on the precipice of that. mr. bernanke and others made decisions, some of which i thought were very good decisions. it is the case that mr. bernanke worked for the previous administration that in many ways created circumstances that took us to that cliff, or near the cliff, with economic policies. i'll talk about that for just a moment. but when mr. bernanke became chairman of the federal reserve board, i understood his background that fit fairly well with what we were going there. as i said, i think he did some things that should be commended and should be supported, and i support that. i've told him that i suppo

president, what i want to touch upon is my strong belief that ben bernanke should not be reappointed for a second term as chairman of the federal reserve. and in that regard i place a hold on his nomination. mr. president, everybody in this country understands that we're in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the great depression. we are looking at 17% of our people being either unemployed or underemployed. we are looking at average length of unemployment being longer than it has been since world war ii. we are looking at a situation where over the last eight or nine years, median household income has declined by over $2,000. we are looking at a situation where, according to "u.s.a. today", accept 18, 2009 -- quote --"the incomes of the young and middle-aged, especially men, have fallen off a cliff since 2000 leesk more age -- leaving more age groups poorer than they were in the 1980's." we're seeing a collapse in the middle class, an increased gap between the rich and everybody else. and then, to make a very bad situation worse, as a result of the greed or irresponsibility,

. >> stephen lee, game over, a friend of ben bernanke. helicopter ben bernanke the fed chief. famous said if we run out of money i'll drop it out of a helicopter. >> and they will. >> and no defense against deflation, by the way. the comment was not meant to fuel bubbles opinion meant to defend the economy against a false reading. >> historian diane, chicago. thanks so much. >>> from wall street to the your street and your wallet, the best places to invest your money in 2010. that's next. i have been congested for the last 10 days and it is so frustrating. (announcer) do you want to give afrin a try? ok. i can breathe through my nose immediately. afrin has made me happy. is that a silly statement? (announcer) afrin. why suffer? way up, since it's low last march, is now the time to buy or to sell? or to hold? and one of the best investments you could make in 2010. here to help us navigate the market good friends ryan mackey, president of optimum captain management and doug flynn certified financial manager. gentlemen, you've been with us through this entire financial crisis, th

if ben bernanke were not reconfirmed, what effect would that have? think it would be a terrible effect and i think republicans are thinking, they appointed ben bernanke and he's probably better than what republicans would get if obama were allowed to a point a new one. why not stick with him? host: jackie combs has a story in the "new york times" that there's been a lot of talk back and forth about the bipartisan commission to reduce the deficit. meeting last week to talk about this. senator supports the idea, white house saying there will be a vote on tuesday. if it doesn't pass then the president will a point a commission on it's own. guest: commission to deal with the budget deficit right now is like - you know - buying flood insurance when your house is on fire. the notion that the problem the country is facing right now is a deficit, is draft and of course there's an ideological agenda to this to gut entitlement. the whole thing that's driving this train is that there's a certain vested interest inside washington. not out in the country that wan

. >>> federal reserve chairman ben bernanke says the best way to prevent financial bubbles is through tighter regulation. but he says it's not the only way. and that may be necessary to raise interest rates again to prevent what he calls dangerous buildups of risk. now some critics blame the federal reserve for causing the recent housing bubble. they say the central bank held interest rates too low for too long. but in a speech before the american economic association's annual meeting, bernanke defended the fed's actions, calling the links between low interest rates and rising home prices, quote, weak. ♪ ♪ i don't need dime to be on to you ♪ . >> imagine losing your job just a week before christmas. well, it happened to this woman, and now she is singing about it, and why her song is so catchy.  >>> a u.s. embassy shuts its doors over concerns about terrorist threats. where it's happening, and why the u.s. is focusing more attention on that particular country these days. >>> she has been missing for weeks. now friends and family of a missing mom are turning to the internet to help fi

ben bernanke was not only appointed by george w.ent bush's council of economic advisors. why do you not want to reappoint somebody who not only failed at his job as chairman of the fed in terms of protecting the safety and soundness of our financial institutions, but was an architect of the bush economy, which was a disaster for american workers. madam president, we need a new direction at the fed. and it's not only looking back at the failures of mr. bernanke, it is looking forward and saying, how can the fed respond to begin to protect the middle class and working families of our country? and here's something that has not been discussed enough. the fed today has enormous powers. now, many will remember that as part of the bailout, mr. bernanke and the bush administration not only pushed "if a $7 -- not only pushed for a $700 billion bailout for wall street, but on top of that, mr. bernanke provided trillions of dollars -- let me underline that -- trillions of dollars in zero-interest loans to large financial institutions. as a mem

. >> stephen lee, game over, a friend of ben bernanke. helicopter ben bernanke the fed chief.y i'll drop it out of a helicopter. >> and they will. >> and no defense against deflation, by the way. the comment was not meant to fubl bubbles. it was meant to defend the economy against a false reading. >> historian diane, chicago. thanks so much. >>> from wall street to the your street and your wallet, the best places to invest your money in 2010. that's next. code orange. the late night heat wave. code orange. when the fever is high enough to be a code orange, you need children's motrin. medicine with muscle. the brand pediatricians recommend most... to bring high fever down fast... and keep it down for up to 8 hours. the 103 degree after-school surprise. code orange. who's not answering. announcer: there's a better way. intuit quickbooks online p9 organizes your business in one place, and helps you stay on top of your business anytime, anywhere. get a 30-day free trial at intuit.com. >>> with the stock market up, way up, since it's low last march, is now the time to buy or to sel

ben bernanke said a couple of years ago. he could discuss this in a plane way that the republicans would have to sign onto. after all, there are products that would be supplied in their districts. the chairman of ge said that you have to make more stuff in america. if you refrain the issues, you can bring the republicans along. nancy pelosi would have an interesting choice, she could be isolated, come along, or quit. she is just as much of a problem as the republicans. they are so far apart ideologically. it is up to the president to come up with different versions of his programs that defined the ideological center. >> we have been watching members of the senate as they depart the senate chamber and they will pass through statuary hall. members of the supreme court will also be there. in one part of the speech, the president will ask the military to repeal the don't ask n don't tell policy. >> there has been a backlash from the liberal wing of his party saying that he did not do what he said he was going to do. this is a go

i am seriously questioning whether ben bernanke's statements are worth heeding. i have been listening to the comments prior to my own. the gentleman before me referenced 1994. he was at princeton in 1994, ben bernanke had nothing to do with the federal reserve. i think that he hit the nail on the head. the banking community right now is spending millions of dollars. never mind the problems that they created in a willy-nilly participated in -- they created and willy-nilly participated in. he needs to push harder against a lobbyist for the banking industry who are doing -- he needs to push harder against the lobbyists for the banking industry to help prevent bubbles in the future. host: ben bernanke was speaking last night about financial regulation in the past, as congress prepares the financial regulation package between the two bodies. he said that he had this to say about the role between regulators last night. >> the role of entering the housing market to bid for properties was not general short-term interest rates, but the increasing use of more exotic types

first, should ben bernanke stay on as chairman of the federal reserve? as this committee works to create a financial regulatory structure, what should be the role of the institution that our chairman here and the nominee will receive? existing structure of the federal reserve deserves to be maintained. that has been dominated by the personality of the fed chairman. this is not about the nominee or the chairman or the members of this committee. it is about the institution that will be around long after the nominee or members of this committee are gone. what makes the most success for the success of the institution, the federal reserve. let me address the nomination for chairman of the federal reserve. this is an important job during a crucial time in our nation's history. over the last year our nation has been rocked by a devastating economic crisis. this committee has met dozens of times to talk about its impact on our constituents who lost their jobs. families have lost their homes and welfare has evaporated as home values dropped and investments were w

this time, it involved growing opposition to confirming ben bernanke to chair the federal reserve board for a second term. his current term expires at the end of this month. two senate democrats-- russ feingold of wisconsin and barbara boxer of california-- announced they'll oppose bernanke. they criticized the fed's handling of the financial bailouts. that left the white house to issue a statement, saying the president still has "a great deal of confidence" in bernanke, and believes he'll be confirmed. but wall street sold off again today, amid the uncertainty both about bernanke and the president's tough talk on banks. the dow jones industrial average fell nearly 217 points to close below 10,173, the lowest since last november. the nasdaq index was down 60 to finish at 2,205. >> woodruff: and for more about the bernanke story and how it connects to the economic and political fallout from this week, we're joined by david wessel, economics editor for "the wall street journal." david, good to see you again, let's start with the market drop. do you have a sense, an understanding of how mu

president had to make a series of -- went through a series of decisions last year in appointing ben bernankeserve in a second term. obviously, as we talked about last week, there are a number of -- there's still a great of anxiety in our economy, but chairman bernanke helped the president and the economic team steer through some very turbulent times and rough waters. as i said yesterday, i believe that it sends a signal to greater and overall stability to have his nomination approved without political games, and that is what we expect will happen later this week. >> but is the white house worried that an unexpectedly difficult debate over his confirmation could damage confidence in the fed and the financial markets, both domestically and internationally, and that this could further weaken the dollar? >> again, our position is that it should not. as we all know, this is an extremely important appointment. i think that senators are making up their minds and announcing their decisions, hopefully based on going through an important set of criteria. and i think, again, this is an important opport

i strongly support president obama's decision to renominate ben bernanke and believe that he has the ertise to continue to lead this country under one of the worst economic downturns in history. chairman bernanke graduated summa cum laude from harvard university earning a bachelor tofs degree in economics. he continued to study it the massachusetts institute of technology. he then had the good sense to head to stanford, my alma mater, where he taught economics for several years at the graduate school of business. after heading back to princeton university, he quickly rose through the academic ranks to become chairman of princeton's economic department. his groundbreaking economic work on the great depression helped increase our understanding of that calamity and prepared him well to tackle our recent financial disasters. he has a strong record of public service that included work as a visiting scholar at several federal reserve banks. in 2002, president george w. bush appointed him to serve on the board of governors. in 2005 president bush appointed him chairman of the president's cou

federal reserve chairman ben bernanke has come out in favor of stronger financial regulation. he says regulation is the first line of defense against the runaway speculation that led to the housing crisis. critics say the fed contributed to the housing double by keeping interest rates too low for too long after the 2001 recession. tight security will be in place when the world's tallest building opens tomorrow. the $20 billion building has luxury apartments and hotels and is believed to be nearly 2,700 feet tall. besides being the world's tallest buildings, as most stories and highest occupied floor of any building in the world. the opening comes as it did by struggles to pay billions of dollars in debt. -- as dubai struggles to pay billions of dollars in debt. how long will these freezing temperatures the ground? your forecast is coming up. we're not the only ones dealing with a blast from mother nature. we will look at other areas being hit hard. we will look at other areas being hit hard. th it's so hard to choose one. you kn, during the sign then drive event, you can get a

federal reserve chairman ben bernanke says stronger regulation is the best way to prevent another financial crisis. in a speech on sunday, bernanke said weak regulation, no low-interest rates, was responsible for the housing bubble and financial crisis. critics argue that the fed kept rates too long after the 2001 recession, fueling reckless lending by banks. >>> the first five trading days on wall street cou tell us about the rest of the year. investors will be watching for what's known as the january effect, a phenomenon that tends to set the tone for the rest of the year. if the first five days of january are up, the end of the year also finish the same way. >>> an exciting week for tech geeks. the los angeles show opens wednesday. a group of broadcasters is planning to use a gadget to push their demands to live tv for mobile devices. the group wants to offer news, sports and other content on cell phones, lab tops and other portable devices. the group hopes to offer much of thatontent for free. >>> one of the most expensive movies ever made is also one of the most successful." avatar" su

and one of them was voting for ben bernanke. and because they were easy, popular moves. >> is the-- . >> lehrer: is the secretary of the treasury geithner now in that same kind of target, essentially same brand of target that bernanke was? >> sheldon white house the senator from rhode island i thought put it quite well. he said bernanke as a february of the fed leadership wasn't particularly gooden forcing the fire code. but once the fire broke out, he was terrific at putting it out. and i think people are still angry at why the fire happened. and i think that anger that we saw it this week in the house oversight committee. >> lehrer: they will pete up on geithner. >> they did, and hank paulson, the former secretary of the treasury. in a sense, we don't know what happened. i mean we do know that aig got 85 billion dollars and then the companies that had bet on them and taken this crazy bet were reimbursed 100 percent. they didn't take a haircut or anything. and we don't know how it happened but we know the people who did it are p

. >> last week it appeared the latest target might be federal reserve chairman ben bernanke has been nominated for a second term. senate support appeared to erode over his efforts to rescue the financial system. but senate leaders moved to tamp down the opposition over the weekend. >> i believe that his confirmation will be assured. >> are you on the same page? >> i'm going to vote for him. >> republican leader mitch mcconnell would not foretell his own vote but predicted bernanke will get his second term. >> he is going to have have bipartisan support in the senate and anticipate he would be confirmed. >> will you vote for him. >> will have bipartisan support. >> as bernanke worked to rally support today, several more senators moved in to his column. >> i'm going to support chairman bernanke's nomination. >> and white house spokesman robert gibb voiced optimism. >> this sends a signal to greater an overall stability to have his nomination proved without political damage. and that is what we expect will happen later this week. >> for now bernanke's improving prospects appeared to hel

fed chairman ben bernanke won't rule out raising interest rate this is year to prevent another housing bubble. at a conference in atlanta sunday, bernanke pushed for stronger regulation to avoid higher mortgage mess. critics blame the fed for feeding the housing bub foel holding rates too low too long. >>> jen pot tors said sales road 67% in china for a record 1.8 million vehicles. detroit based gm and other global automatic mow makers are looking to china's fast growing market to drive sales amid slack either where. december numbers have not yet been released. >>> 3 million customers in new york, new jersey and connecticut lost access to hdtv and the food network after pulled programming over contract negotiations. cable vision currently pays about 25 crepts per subscriber for the combined networks. the cable giant says they're demanding a 200% fee increase which would drive up customer rates. >>> and "avatar" is getting better with age. the 3d epic had the best third weekend ever at the box office smashing the mark set by spider man. "avatar" has earned more than $350 million domesti

it's an honor and pleasure to introduce this morning's speaker, ben bernanke. he will speak for about 40 minutes and take four or five questions and then try catch his plane. ben and i have similar academic pedigrees, we both have the same undergraduate thesis advisor, dale mortingson, and our thesis on the same subject. we both learned academes at m.i.t., and then ben became one of the most powerful people in the world and my only claim to fame is having been briefly ben's landlord. a decade ago ben and martin published a definitive paper claiming how decreasing values affect the society. and that claim is an outpouring to events, and take a look at that paper when someone tells you that macroeconomics were result of the problem of 2008. ben, thank you for joining us today. [applause] >> thank you, bob, and dale for coming as well. the financial crisis that began in august, 2007 has been the most severe of the post-world war ii era and it's range of financial constitutions that failed or came close to failure, possibly the worse in modern history. although for

"in fed we trust," from "the wall street journal" economics editor on the role of ben bernanke.he will discuss his vote with the former federal reserve vice chair and first director of the congressional budget office. after words, part of booktv on c-span2. >> the video archive it is over 150,000 hours of video. it is fast and free. try it out c-span.org. >> on tamara's "washington journal", bob cusack looks at this year's elections. the economic policies institute talks about income and equality. i use it -- a look at the health care system, live beginning at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. now part of today's "washington journal" where we discussed recent anti-government protests in iran. this is 40 minutes. host: kenneth timmerman is here to discuss what is happening in iran. secretary of state hillary clinton addressed the issue yesterday. here's what she said >>. >> we have avoided using the term deadline. we want to keep the door to dialogue open. we have also made it clear we cannot continue to wait. we cannot continue to stand by when the iranians talk about increasing their pro

that is why it was difficult for federal reserve chairman ben bernanke when he served under the formerederal reserve alan greenspan, for them to see the housing bubble happen. what is your take on that? guest: i don't agree with that. there was a member of the board who has since died who presented them with that information. alan greenspan himself testified -- one of the mysteries of the current crisis or disgrace all aspects of the current crisis, is that congress won't do anything about what was the initiation cause of the crisis. under various administrations, democrat as well as republican, they have tried to increase housing. after a while they were giving look -- no down payment loans for people without a credit rating. if that isn't an indication for difficult, it is hard to think of what would be. alan greenspan among other people testified about that. my colleague at the american enterprise institute, who had -- who at one time was the chief counsel in the white house and former chief counsel of the treasury, a very knowledgeable person, has spoken over and over again about t

senators are expected to take up the nomination of ben bernanke for another term. house meets tomorrow and will consider a bill this week to provide emergency aid to u.s. survivors of the earthquake in haiti. that's house coverage here on c- span. >> wednesday, president obama delivers his first state of the union address to congress, laying out his vision for the future of the country and its plans to deal with the state of the union address, when sennight, at 8:00 eastern on c- span. you can listen to the address live on your iphone. >> listen to c-span radio, in washington at 981 fm and satellite radio channel 122. it is a free application for your iphone. c-span radio -- covering washington like no other. >> this morning, washington journal spoke with reporters about the future of health care bill and other issues. this is about 45 minutes. application for your iphone. c-span radio, covering washington like no other. >> "washington journal" continues. host: this week in congress, the second year of the obama administration. more liz sidoti liz with the associat

that is why it was difficult for federal reserve chairman ben bernanke when he served under the formerfederal reserve alan greenspan, for them to see the housing bubble happen. what is your take on that? guest: i don't agree with that. there was a member of the board who has since died who presented them with that information. alan greenspan himself testified -- one of the mysteries of the current crisis or disgrace all aspects of the current crisis, is that congress won't do anything about what was the initiation cause of the crisis. under various administrations, democrat as well as republican, they have tried to increase housing. after a while they were giving look -- no down payment loans for people without a credit rating. if that isn't an indication for difficult, it is hard to think of what would be. alan greenspan among other people testified about that. my colleague at the american enterprise institute, who had -- who at one time was the chief counsel in the white house and former chief counsel of the treasury, a very knowledgeable person, has spoken over and over again about

ben bernanke says the reserve must be open to raising the rates in future. >> saying all efforts to shoulde made to avoid the repeat of the economic crisis. some kept the rates too long for too low in 2000. that fueled the housing bubble at the hoot of the housing crisis. >>> governor omaley -- o'malley may be having some competition. george will make it official wednesday. the former majority whip serving majority of affairs. he's been a sharp critic of his policies. >>> it's been the tallest building in the world. casting a shadow on all other buildings this morning. >>> many make a new year's resolution to lose weight. i bet it's number one or two. >> i'm sure it is. >> we will have a dietitian with us to tell us how to keep the goal. don't go anywhere. >>> here's a tall tale. the world's tallest building opening in dubai. the actual height is a closely guarded secret, but it's believed to be nearly 27 feet tall, just over half a mile. its observation deck on the 14 14th floor a -- 124th floor also sets a record. it will be apartments, offices, and a hotel designed by gorgio armani. >>

. >>> ben bernanke out talking yesterday, specifically defending feds performance in 2009. he said extra low rates were needed to get the economy and job creation in full throttle. looking ahead, he said stronger regulation is the best way to prevent financial speculation. also not ruling out higher interest rates. >>> the super bowl more than a month away. cbs says it has less than a handful of remaining commercial slots for the game. usa today reports cbs sold 65% of ad slots. first half of the game is sold out. prices range from 2 to 3 million for 30 seconds slot. most game veterans are back. you can see the big game here. i love the clydesdale's. >> glad they are here. sorry about gm, but says a lot about what's happening with that company. thank you. >>> 2010. it is a sense us year. and they are kicking off an ad campaign today called the portrait of america road tour. more than a dozen 46-foot long trailers tour the nation encouraging people to mail in forms. 10 question forms go out in march. sense us provides thousands of jobs at the headquarters in maryland. >>> co