The Chairman, Ben Bernanke Part 1 and 2 CBS Video

The Chairman Part 1

If you think your job is tough, consider Ben Bernanke`s. As Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the task of reviving the U.S. economy falls largely on his shoulders. Scott Pelley has the interview.



The Chairman Part 2

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke candidly speaks to Scott Pelley about his personal life, as both visit his old high school and how the current financial crisis is affecting Main Street America.

Bernanke May Need to Ramp Up Fed’s Asset Purchases
March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Federal Reserve policy makers may have to ramp up their purchases of mortgage securities and other assets after the economy and job market deteriorated further since they last met.
The Federal Open Market Committee, gathering today and tomorrow in Washington, needs to redouble its efforts after the central bank’s balance sheet shrank 17 percent from a $2.3 trillion December peak, Fed watchers said. The retreat came even as Bernanke acknowledged the chance that the unemployment rate will exceed 10 percent for the first time in a quarter century.
“It takes massive balance-sheet expansion to generate significant easing in financial conditions,” said Andrew Tilton, an economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in New York who used to work at the Treasury. “More needs to be done.”
This week’s FOMC meeting could mark a shift toward more aggressive monetary expansion to fight deflation after demand waned for many of the Fed’s existing programs. One top consideration is an increase in the pace and size of a $600 billion program to buy bonds issued and backed by U.S. housing agencies such as Fannie Mae, analysts said.