Super Short Summary

In his non-fiction book In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke's War on the Great Panic (2009), American journalist and author David Wessel details the steps taken by Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, in the wake of the 2007 financial crisis. Wessel argues that the collapse of the housing market, combined with risky investment instruments like "mortgage-backed securities" and "collateralized debt obligations," significantly contributed to the crisis. He criticizes former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan for relaxing financial regulations and describes the controversial decisions, including Quantitative Easing and the $180 billion bailout of AIG, which were made to salvage the economy.