From the CBS 60 Minutes interview: Fed Chairman Bernanke On The Economy
CBS: In the panic of 2008, the Fed put up $3.3 trillion. And just this past week, the Fed revealed who got emergency help. … it was a historic transfusion of cash in a global system that was bleeding to death. We asked Bernanke what would have happened if the Fed hadn’t acted.
Scott Pelley: What would unemployment be today?
Fed Chairman Bernanke: Unemployment would be much, much higher. It might be something like it was in the Depression. Twenty-five percent. We saw what happened when one or two large financial firms came close to failure or to failure. Imagine if ten or 12 or 15 firms had failed, which is where we almost were in the fall of 2008. It would have brought down the entire global financial system and it would have had enormous implications, very long-lasting implications for the global economy, not just the U.S. economy.
