“The Fed Can Lend To Anybody”: Watch Live As Bernanke Holds Virtual Discussion On US Economy

None other than the man who saved the world, and “contained” subprime, is holding a Q&A live (over Zoom)…

In his prepared remarks, former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke suggested US GDP could shrink 35%-plus annualized in Q2 (while playing down any comparisons between the lockdowns and The Great Depression, claimed that much of the recent explosion in the Fed balance sheet is temporary, and said that “The Fed can essentially lend to anybody” based on its emergency powers.

Bernanke is expected to speak until around 1345ET: