This Day In Market History: Ben Bernanke Takes Over As Fed Chair

Each day, Benzinga takes a look back at a notable market-related moment that happened on this date.

What Happened? On Jan. 31, 2006, the Senate approved the appointment of Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Where Was The Market? The S&P 500 was trading at 1,280.08 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 10,864.86.

What Else Was Going On In The World? In 2006, Google, now Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL, bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock. Saddam Hussein was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging.

The Father Of QE: At the time Bernanke took over as Fed chair, few realized the U.S. was just two years away from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Fortunately, Bernanke was the perfect man for the job, having studied the Great Depression and the economic missteps that had prolonged the downturn.

Bernanke’s drastic actions to combat the 2008 crisis drew harsh criticism at the time, particularly from fiscally conservative Americans. In addition to cutting interest rates from 5.25% to 0%, Bernanke spearheaded the quantitative easing program and the Troubled Asset Relief Program to provide systemically important financial institutions with much-needed liquidity.

The Great Recession dragged on for roughly a decade, but the years since have been a period of growth, and the stock market and the economy are now booming. Bernanke's actions when the recession hit could be one reason why.

Photo: President Barack Obama with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on April 10, 2009. Photo by Pete Souza.