Interviewed by Tim Taylor on Haverford College website

Wall Street Journal reporter David Wessel, Haverford ’75,  has just published “In Fed We Trust”, an inside look at the Federal Reserve and “the great panic”. He and Tim Taylor ’82, managing editor of The Journal of Economic Perspectives, did a web chat about the book, the Fed, the causes of the crisis and the outlook.

Taylor Your discussions of the Fed have lots of interesting details. Ben Bernanke has trail mix on his secretary's desk and diet Dr. Pepper in his office refrigerator. The New York Fed has $195 billion in gold in the basement, 50 feet below sea level. What sort of research did you have to do to get the details and background?

 Wessel Well, I've been covering the Fed for a long time so I've actually been to that gold vault at the New York Fed. As for the other stuff, I wanted to write a book that ordinary people would find interesting and understandable. When a reporter sets out to tell a story, he or she looks -- struggles to find, actually -- those great details. On Bernanke's frig? I was talking to him and he went to it to get a Dr. Pepper.

Read the whole interview here

Comments

[Marcovious]

Hmm that was...an odd interview, to say the least. Who eats trail mix these days, anyway, let alone keeps it on a desk? People who deal with the Fed, apparently...