Federal Reserve

Desperate to inject liquidity into the market, the Federal Reserve has been unusually willing to lend money.

William McChesney Martin, the longest serving Fed chairman, once remarked that the job of a good central banker is to take away the punch bowl just as the party gets going. Over the last week, Ben Bernanke seems to have reversed that dictum: he's the host wandering from guest to guest with a tray of Jell-O shots. MORE