A few weeks ago, Ben Bernanke sat down with Stephen Dubner of Freakonomics radio to discuss his recent book, The Courage to Act. For those who lack the courage to actually slog through Bernanke’s 624-page defense of his “bold” and “unprecedented” action as Fed chairman, the interview suffices as a good summary of his key message: “Don’t blame me!”

The interview also includes a surprising twist. At the 14-minute mark, Bernanke makes a somewhat startling claim: “Ironically — and please take this the right way — the person who sort of most understood fiscal policy, in some sense, was Adolf Hitler.” Because the rearming of Germany in the 1930s was “so big and so extensive,” the “side effect” was that Germany came out of its depression “much quicker than other countries.”