Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke

Over a frantic weekend in mid-March, Ben Bernanke rewrote the rule book as chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board. Like a military commander applying overwhelming force, he took steps then and over the following two months that some at the central bank are now calling the Bernanke Doctrine.

A month after the Federal Reserve rescued Bear Stearns Cos. from bankruptcy, Chairman Ben S. Bernanke got an S.O.S. from Congress.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said here Thursday the central bank was ready to cut interest rates again as needed to prevent the housing slump and the credit crunch from dragging the economy into a recession.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday that economic growth will slow noticeably in coming months while surging oil costs will raise inflation pressures. But he said the economy is nowhere close to the stagflation nightmare of the 1970s and he predicted an economic rebound by mid-2008.