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Firms are not always willing to cut wages, even if there are people lined up outside the gates to work. So why don't they?
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Models used to describe and predict inflation commonly distinguish between changes in food and energy prices - which enter into total inflation - and movements in the prices of other goods and services - that is, core inflation.
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Nationally, the share of mortgages that are underwater fell by about one-half between 2011 and 2014.
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To me, the greatest asset of the Fed is the people. We have a tremendously dedicated staff... They feel proud to work for the Fed because this is such a competent, professional and well-respected organization.
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The financial crisis and the Great Recession demonstrated, in a dramatic and unmistakable manner, how extraordinarily vulnerable are the large share of American families with very few assets to fall back on. We have come far from the worst moments of the crisis, and the economy continues to improve.
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Efforts to promote financial stability through adjustments in interest rates would increase the volatility of inflation and employment. As a result, I believe a macro-prudential approach to supervision and regulation needs to play the primary role.
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During the 1970s, inflation expectations rose markedly because the Federal Reserve allowed actual inflation to ratchet up persistently in response to economic disruptions - a development that made it more difficult to stabilize both inflation and employment.
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A crucial responsibility of any central bank is to control inflation, the average rate of increase in the prices of a broad group of goods and services.
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Increased business sales would almost certainly raise the productive capacity of the economy by encouraging additional capital spending, especially if accompanied by reduced uncertainty about future prospects.
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A clear lesson of history is that a 'sine qua non' for sustained economic recovery following a financial crisis is a thoroughgoing repair of the financial system.
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Social safety-net spending is an important form of public funding that helps offset disparities in family resources for children.
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Because food and energy prices are volatile, it is often helpful to look at inflation excluding those two categories - known as core inflation - which is typically a better indicator of future overall inflation than recent readings of headline inflation.
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It slightly worries me that when people find a problem, they rush to judgment of what to do.
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We need to keep in mind the well-established fact that the full effects of monetary policy are felt only after long lags. This means that policy makers cannot wait until they have achieved their objectives to begin adjusting policy.
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As a general principle, the American people would be well served by the active pursuit of effective policies to support longer-run growth in productivity.
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Audit the Fed is a bill that would politicize monetary policy, would bring short-term political pressures to bear on the Fed. In terms of openness about our financial accounts, we are extensively audited.
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We're charged by Congress with regulating financial institutions. We take that mission seriously. We are tough supervisors and regulators.
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Although we work through financial markets, our goal is to help Main Street, not Wall Street.
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In 2006, the Congress had approved plans to allow the Fed, beginning in 2011, to pay interest on banks' reserve balances. In the fall of 2008, the Congress moved up the effective date of this authority to October 2008.
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Housing is a relatively small sector of the economy, and its decline should be self-correcting.
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Policy makers should be compelled to take action given the serious costs of long-term unemployment when overall unemployment is already high. A week of unemployment is worse when it is experienced as part of a longer spell.
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We need to increase the transparency of shadow banking markets so that authorities can monitor for signs of excessive leverage and unstable maturity transformation outside regulated banks.
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When the time comes to raise rates, I do think there will be some benefits that flow through to savers.
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We will watch very carefully what is happening in the economy and adjust policies appropriate.