Ben Bernanke prepares to leave the Fed
Ben Bernanke is exiting the Fed after a rocky 8-year term. CNN's Maggie Lake looks back on his tenure.

It's been a long paralyst eight-year ride for Ben Bernanke, filled with virtally every economic challenge immaginable. It all began in 2006 when Bernanke was sworn in as the 14th Federal Reserve chairman, taking the reins from the man once called the maestro, Allen Greenspan. At first it was smooth sailing, the US economy was expanding, storm clouds seem far away, but all that changed in 2007.
The economic outlook has been importantly effected by recent developments in financial markets which have come under significant pressure over the past few months.
The slumping housing gathered speed, foreclosure surged, publically Bernanke remained upbeat.
Our forecast is for moderate but positive growth going forward for the few next quarters.
In fact, the great recession was just beginning.Bear Stearns collapsed in 2008 and was gobbled up by JP Morgen Chase. Lehman Brothers collapsed, stocks tanked and credit markets seized up.
This plan is an emergency plan to put out a fire. Bernanke stepped on the gas and reved up the engines.
Mr. Bernanke was aggressive at the time when our country needed him to be aggressive and quite frankly needed for him to be decisive. I think a lot of people don't realize how close this country was with respect to having a run on the banks.
Bernanke helped craft the controvercial bank rescue plan tark, he cut interest rates to near 0 and launched the massive Fed stimulus programs, quantitative easing 1,2,and 3. The Fed promised to try anything to ease the crisis no matter how unorthordox was key.
He says we are gonna do whatever it takes, that message, I think that the psychological effect of that message was to make the actual policy changes more powerful.
By 2009, the markets recovered. Time Magazine named Bernanke its person of the year. But years after the worst of the financial crisis, the Fed is still pumping billions in stimulus, earning Bernanke the nickname, Helicopter Ben. Critics say the easy money is fueling risky investments, but unwinding stimulus will not be easy and could upset world markets.
We have now reared an entire generation of investors that become dependent on QE to buy stocks.
The jury is still out on Bernanke's ten year at the Fed. But after such an eventful economic journey, he has earned the right to do something a little less stimulating.