If you visit RetirementThink on a regular basis, you'll know Ben Stein is one of our favorite authors.  Here's the Ben Stein take on recession and Ben Bernanke.

I want to be honest here (and everywhere): This slowdown is happening faster and harder than I thought it would. I was too optimistic. My optimism was based on a belief that the Federal Reserve would act more aggressively than it has in fighting the slowdown. It didn't, and we're paying the price.

Let's hope that Ben Bernanke, the chair of the Federal Reserve Board, has learned his lesson. Hopefully, he'll now plunge in with both feet to get a lot of liquidity into the system, and reassure lenders that he'll backstop them and not let them fail. He's now perceived as weak, and he'll have to act aggressively to get the ball rolling again. But he can do it.

Rethinking The Recession at finance.yahoo.com