1. Home
  2. About the Fed
  3. Economic Education
  4. Chairman Bernanke's College Lecture Series

Economic Education

Origins and Mission of the Federal Reserve

In the first lecture, the Chairman explains what central banks do, the origin of central banking in the United States, and the early experience of the Federal Reserve in dealing with a serious financial crisis: the Great Depression.

Lecture Materials

Origins and Mission of the Federal Reserve presentation (PDF) | Accessible Version

Accessible Keys for Video

[Space Bar] toggles play/pause;

[Right/Left Arrows] seeks the video forwards and back (5 sec );

[Up/Down Arrows] increase/decrease volume;

[M] toggles mute on/off;

[F] toggles fullscreen on/off (Except IE 11);

The [Tab] key may be used in combination with the [Enter/Return] key to navigate and activate control buttons, such as caption on/off.

Back to Top
Last Update: February 02, 2017