Lesson 7: Monetary Policy and the 2008 Financial Crisis
October 8, 2025
Review:
- Comparable Analysis Presentations
- Intro to the 2008 Financial Crisis
- Synthetic Credit Default Options (with Dr. Richard Thaler and Selena Gomez, 06:16)
Presentation:
- Money for Nothing: Inside the Federal Reserve
- Federal Reserve
- Central Bank for the US and, in some ways, the World
- Alan Greenspan
- Federal Reserve Chairman (1987-2006)
- Free market champion appointed by President Reagan
- Ben Bernanke
- Federal Reserve Chairman (2006-2014)
- Promised to continue Greenspan policies
- At the eye of the storm in 2008
- Kept interest rates too low for too long (2001-2004)
- Contrast with Paul Volker (1979-1987)
- Watch video (49:00-1:02:15)
- Continue (1:17:45-)
- Federal Funds Rate
- Janet Yellen (2014-2018)
- Jerome Powell (2018-present)
- Discussion
- Trickle Down philosophy
- Promotion of financial markets
- Quantitative Easing (QE)
- Debt
