Ben Bernanke Quotes
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Under Chairman Greenspan, monetary policy has become increasingly transparent to the public and the financial markets, a trend that I strongly support.
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We do not expect significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the economy or to the financial system.
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There are various estimates about the third quarter impact, ... Our CEA (Council of Economic Advisers) numbers are somewhere between a half and one percentage point on growth. That would still probably leave us at a decent rate of growth for the third quarter.
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I will maintain the focus on long-term price stability as monetary policy's greatest contribution to general economic prosperity and maximum employment.
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The Federal Reserve will not monetize the debt.
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I have spoken about deficits, and I think deficits are important because they address broad economic and financial stability. We need to talk about that.
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There is a deficit; I'd like to see it lowered. But it's up to Congress to decide whether that should be done by higher taxes, lower spending or some combination.
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People saw the Depression as a necessary thing - a chance to squeeze out the excesses, get back to Puritan morality. That just made things worse.
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Interest rates are used to achieve overall economic stability.
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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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In the typical economic recovery, a resurgent housing sector helps fuel reemployment and rising incomes.
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Market discipline can only limit moral hazard to the extent that debt and equity holders believe that, in the event of distress, they will bear costs.
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It's the price of success: people start to think you're omnipotent.
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To support continued healthy growth, vigilance in regard to inflation is essential.
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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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The economic repercussions of a stock market crash depend less on the severity of the crash itself than on the response of economic policymakers, particularly central bankers.
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If two people always agree, one of them is redundant.
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Economic engineering is about the design and analysis of frameworks for achieving specific economic objectives.
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Inflation is up, driven by energy prices. Underlying core rates remain low, which is encouraging.
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The basic prescription for preventing deflation is straightforward, at least in principle: Use monetary and fiscal policy as needed to support aggregate spending, in a manner as nearly consistent as possible with full utilization of economic resources and low and stable inflation. In other words, the best way to get out of trouble is not to get into it in the first place.
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It must be awfully frustrating to get a small raise at work and then have it all eaten by a higher cost of commuting.
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The downturn following the collapse of Japan's so-called bubble economy of the 1980s was not as severe as the Great Depression.
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All the Federal Reserve can do is make loans against collateral.
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Deflation can be particularly dangerous when a financial system is shaky, with household and corporate balance sheets in poor shape and banks undercapitalized and heavily burdened with bad loans.