In this interview, Dr. Bernanke recounts the concerns of his early days as chairman of the Federal Reserve in 2006 and the onset of the 2007–09 financial crisis. He then turns to the collapse of Lehman Brothers and AIG and its fallout. He emphasizes how important it is for the public to...

Although the Federal Reserve strongly favors private-sector solutions to private-sector problems, the risk of financial instability in the United States and in much of the rest of the world has implied the need to take extraordinary actions on the part of governments and central banks. The...