Ben Bernanke Quotes
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My first priority will be to maintain continuing with the policy and policy strategies under the Greenspan era.
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I assure this committee that, if I am confirmed, I will be strictly independent of all political influences... essential to that institution's ability to function effectively and achieve its mandated objectives.
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There will not be an automatic increase in interest rate when unemployment hits 6.5%.
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If Wall Street crashes, does Main Street follow? Not necessarily.
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The Fed is totally open.
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Monetary policy is not a panacea.
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Middle-income living standards, and poverty for that matter, are best addressed through employment growth. By maintaining low inflation and low expectations of inflation, you can create new employment.
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In many spheres of human endeavor, from science to business to education to economic policy, good decisions depend on good measurement.
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Evolving technologies that allow economists to gather new types of data and to manipulate millions of data points are just one factor among several that are likely to transform the field in coming years.
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If bankers become overly conservative in response to past lending mistakes - or if examiners force such behavior - it will hurt bankers' own long-term interests and the economy in general.
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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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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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Although I expect policy to follow the usual gradualist pattern, the pace of tightening will of necessity respond to evolving economic conditions, particularly the strength of the ongoing recovery in the labor market and developments on the inflation front.
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I don't see much evidence of an equity bubble.
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We see that coming back in the fourth quarter and going on into next year.
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Monetary policy is a blunt tool which certainly affects the distribution of income and wealth, although whether the net effect is to increase or reduce inequality is not clear.
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I'd throw dollars out of helicopters if I had to, to stimulate the economy.
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At the most basic level, a central bank must be clear and open about its actions and operations, particularly when they involve the deployment of public funds.
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I personally would have preferred if the Fed had been a little less aggressive.
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I think there's a good chance we'll dodge the bullet this time.
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Building a rainy-day fund during good times may not be politically popular, but it can pay off during the bad times.
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A money-financed tax cut is essentially equivalent to Milton Friedman's famous 'helicopter drop' of money.
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It is not the responsibility of the Federal Bank - nor would it be appropriate - to protect lenders and investors from the consequences of their decisions.
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I believe that the Federal Reserve's success in reducing and stabilizing inflation and inflation expectations is a major reason for this improved economic performance.