At a celebration of Friedman’s ninetieth birthday in 2002—also the fortieth anniversary of the publication of Capitalism and Freedom—Ben S. Bernanke, then a member of the Fed’s board of governors, told Friedman and his frequent coauthor Anna Schwartz, “Regarding the Great Depression: You’re right. We did it. We’re very sorry. But thanks to you, we won’t do it again.” A few years later, Bernanke became chairman of the Fed, and during the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009, he kept his promise to Friedman, flooding the banking system with funding to revive the economy.
