Ben Bernanke: This is closer to a snowstorm than the Depression

“It is important before we put everybody back to work that we feel like we have the public health situation under control.” Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke led the Fed during the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent recession; now he’s weighing in on the Fed’s playbook to prevent another American recession in 2020. As a student of the Great Depression, he views today’s economic distress as much closer to a natural disaster than the economic downturn of the 1930s. Current President of the St. Louis Federal Reserve James Bullard calls for historical perspective as well, telling the public, “Don’t get discouraged, because this isn’t at all comparable to past events in U.S. macroeconomic history.”