Ben Bernanke Quotes
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The ultimate purpose of economics, of course, is to understand and promote the enhancement of well-being.
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If I am confirmed to this position, my first priority will be to maintain consistency and continuity with the policies established during the Greenspan years.
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Those high oil prices are a burden on U.S. families, on firms' production costs. But the good news is that at least so far the U.S. economy has not been slowed by the high energy prices.
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Like gold, U.S. dollars have value only to the extent that they are strictly limited in supply. But the U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press (or, today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost. By increasing the number of U.S. dollars in circulation, or even by credibly threatening to do so, the U.S. government can also reduce the value of a dollar in terms of goods and services, which is equivalent to raising the prices in dollars of those goods and services.
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Banks will have to win the confidence of their customers through fair dealing, making good loans, and remaining financially healthy.
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Evolutionary psychologists suggest that humans experienced evolutionary benefits from brain developments that included aversion to loss and risk and from instincts for cooperation that helped strengthen communities.
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No economy can succeed without a high-quality workforce, particularly in an age of globalization and technical change.
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The best approach here if at all possible is to use supervisory and regulatory methods to restrain undue risk-taking and to make sure the system is resilient in case an asset price bubble bursts in the future.
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Developments in financial markets can have broad economic effects felt by many outside the markets.
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Some influential voices of the time argued that by accepting higher inflation, policy-makers could bring about a permanently lower rate of unemployment.
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The Federal Reserve Act requires the Federal Reserve to report annually on its operations and to publish its balance sheet weekly.
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If you are asking me if I would advocate that the Chinese go to greater flexibility in their exchange rate, I certainly would.
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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).
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The people who best use their advantages, or overcome adversity, and work honestly are those most worthy of admiration.
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The Federal Reserve has always recognized the importance of allowing markets to work, and government oversight of financial firms will never be fully effective without the aid of strong market discipline.
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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.
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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.
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If you want to understand geology, study earthquakes. If you want to understand the economy, study the Depression.
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Investment banks manage to go bankrupt through their investment-banking activities, commercial banks manage to go bankrupt through their commercial-banking activities.
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The children of the unemployed achieve less in school and appear to have reduced long-term earnings prospects.
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Central bankers got it right in the United States in 1987 when they avoided deflationary pressures as well as serious trouble in the banking system.
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One may aspire to succeed Chairman Greenspan but it will not be possible to replace him.
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I don't see much evidence of an equity bubble.
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My first priority will be to maintain continuing with the policy and policy strategies under the Greenspan era.