Ben Bernanke stepped down as Chairman of the Federal Reserve on Friday. So what will be his legacy? Bernanke, although he didn't anticipate the financial crisis, steered the Fed through the most turbulent of financial environments since the Great Depression. Notably, as an academic, Bernanke was probably best known for his work on the Great Depression. His key insight was that the collapse of banks during the Great Depression resulted in credit channels not working properly. How well did he steer the Fed over the past eight years? You can read articles where Bernanke's performance is assessed at the WSJ, Project Syndicate and PBS.
According to Robert Shiller , speaking at Davos, Bitcoin is a perfect example of a bubble - story here . Shiller sees Bitcoin as a backwards step in the evolution of money. George Selgin , a free banker, takes an opposing view - click here . Although he doesn't believe that Bitcoin is money, he sees its development as a fascinating turn in the evolution of money. In particular, he lauds the fact that Bitcoin production is constrained and cannot be infinite. There is a short video below where Bitcoin explain how it works.