Bernanke makes a return to the classroom

Ben Bernanke, the economics professor who became the world's most powerful central banker, took time out from running the US Federal Reserve to return to the classroom yesterday – to launch a short lecture series for students at George Washington University. "Gee, this is great. This is what I used to do before I got into my current line of work," Mr Bernanke said, before settling into a lecture on the Fed's origins, which is viewable, with a reading list, on the Fed's ownwebsite.

In a long career at Princeton University, Mr Bernanke became the foremost scholar of the Great Depression, before leaving for Washington where he ended up having to prevent the 2007-2009 financial crisis triggering a similar calamity.