Ben Bernanke Quotes
-
Growth in U.S. real imports slowed to about 3 percent in 2006, in part reflecting a drop in real terms in imports of crude oil and petroleum products.
-
High energy prices are burdening household budgets and raising production costs, and continued increases would at some point restrain economic growth.
-
One may aspire to succeed Chairman Greenspan but it will not be possible to replace him.
-
The children of the unemployed achieve less in school and appear to have reduced long-term earnings prospects.
-
It takes about two and a half percent growth just to keep unemployment stable.
-
House prices have risen by nearly 25 percent over the past two years. Although speculative activity has increased in some areas, at a national level these price increases largely reflect strong economic fundamentals.
-
Under constrained discretion, the central bank is free to do its best to stabilize output and employment in the face of short-run disturbances, with the appropriate caution born of our imperfect knowledge of the economy and of the effects of policy (this is the 'discretion' part of constrained discretion).
-
The Federal Reserve is not currently forecasting a recession.
-
These policies include making tax relief permanent, reducing the budget deficit by limiting spending, strengthening retirement and health security through efforts like Social Security reform ... and enhancing energy security.
-
Equally important, stable prices allow people to rely on the dollar as a measure of value when making long-term contracts, engaging in long-term planning or lending for long periods.
-
I got into economics because I wanted to make things better for the average person.
-
There will not be an automatic increase in interest rate when unemployment hits 6.5%.
-
The GSEs are adequately capitalized. They are in no danger of failing.
-
To be sure, the provision of liquidity alone can by no means solve the problems of credit risk and credit losses; but it can reduce liquidity premiums, help restore the confidence of investors, and thus promote stability.
-
To avoid large and unsustainable budget deficits, the nation will ultimately have to choose among higher taxes, modifications to entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, less spending on everything else from education to defense, or some combination of the above.
-
In the past, Federal Reserve chairmen have not generally gone directly to the public.
-
You want to put the fire out first and then worry about the fire code.
-
Let me end my talk by abusing slightly my status as an official representative of the Federal Reserve System. I would like to say to Milton and Anna: Regarding the Great Depression. You're right, we did it. We're very sorry. But thanks to you, we won't do it again.
-
Monetary policy cannot do much about long-run growth, all we can try to do is to try to smooth out periods where the economy is depressed because of lack of demand.
-
Every effort needs to be made to try and offset the costs of Katrina and Rita by reductions in other government programs, especially those that are wasteful, duplicative and ineffective.
-
Many foreclosed homes are neglected or abandoned, as legal proceedings or other factors delay their resale. Deteriorating or vacant properties can, in turn, directly affect the quality of life in a neighborhood, for example, by leading to increases in vandalism or crime.
-
By not tying policy to a small set of forecast indicators, we may sacrifice some degree of simplicity, but we are less likely to be misled when a favored variable behaves in an unusual manner.
-
Our assessment currently is that the risks to inflation are perhaps the more significant at the moment, and we need to address that.
-
Certainly, 9 percent unemployment and very slow growth is not a good situation.