The Federal Reserve and the Financial Crisis by Ben S. Bernanke Princeton University Press, 2013, 144 pages, US$19.95 The head of the US Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, like most modern central bankers, is committed to acting with a high degree of independence from political government. Independence requires accountability, and account­ability is greatly assisted by transparency. In what seem likely to be his final months as chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board, Mr Bernanke has published four lectures on the subject of central banking, its history, its eternal verities and how all this worked out in what may well have…