The purpose of the essay is to answer the question: Did Ben Bernanke learn anything from the Fed's experience during the Great Depression that helped him to steer the Federal Reserve through the financial crisis in 2008-9? A good answer to this question would.

• Describe the lessons that Ben Bernanke says he (and other economists and leaders of the Fed) learned from the Fed's depression-era experience.
• Indicate which of those lessons the Fed applied in 2008-9.
• Explain whether the application of those lessons helped or harmed the economy in 2008-9