The recession is probably over. So said Ben Bernanke this week. His timing is exquisite. President Obama has reappointed him to be Fed chairman, and he can now head into his Senate confirmation hearings this fall with the reputation that he nipped another Great Depression in the bud.

But did he?

Trying to challenge Mr. Bernanke’s job performance is like trying to convince your average ancient Greek that Zeus was a bumbling weakling. That’s because the mystique surrounding the Fed’s ordinary actions – let alone its recent, extraordinary ones – is thicker than the fog at Mt. Olympus’s summit. People entertain perfectly absurd beliefs concerning what the Fed can – and what it can’t – do; and while some like to blame the Fed for every economic hiccup, others are no less convinced that the economy would drop dead were it not for its constant care.

Did Bernanke Prevent a Great Depression? – George Selgin, CS Monitor

Also,

Transparency and the Fed

Taxpayers have a right to know where all the bailout money went.

Transparency & the Bernanke Fed – Matthew Winkler, Wall Street Journal