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Economics is a highly sophisticated field of thought that is superb at explaining to policymakers precisely why the choices they made in the past were wrong. About the future, not so much.

Ben Bernanke

The financial crisis appears to be mostly behind us, and the economy seems to have stabilized and is expanding again.
BEN BERNANKE

Economy Expanding Financial
The American people are among the most productive in the world. We have the best technologies. We have – great universities. We have entrepreneurs.
BEN BERNANKE

Entrepreneur People Technology World
Among the largest banks, the capital ratios remain good and I don’t expect any serious problems . . . . among the large, internationally active banks that make up a very substantial part of our banking system.
BEN BERNANKE

Banking Ratio Serious
Nobody likes to fail but failure is an essential part of life and of learning. If your uniform isn’t dirty, you haven’t been in the game.
BEN BERNANKE

Dirty Essential Games
Under a cold turkey strategy, at each policy meeting the Federal Open Market Committee would make its best guess about where it ultimately wants the funds rate to be and would move to that rate in a single step.
BEN BERNANKE

Committee Country Moving
The basic prescription for preventing deflation is therefore straightforward, at least in principle: Use monetary and fiscal policy as needed to support aggregate spending.
BEN BERNANKE

Business Principle Support
Nobody really understands gold prices and I don’t pretend to understand them either.
BEN BERNANKE

Gold Gold Price
I served seven years as the chair of the Princeton economics department where I had responsibility for major policy decisions, such as whether to serve bagels or doughnuts at the department coffee hour.
BEN BERNANKE

Coffee Responsibility Years
Although low inflation is generally good, inflation that is too low can pose risks to the economy – especially when the economy is struggling.
BEN BERNANKE

Economy Risk Struggle
September and October of 2008 was the worst financial crisis in global history, including the Great Depression.
BEN BERNANKE

Financial October September
The GSEs are adequately capitalized. They are in no danger of failing.
BEN BERNANKE

Capitalized Danger Failing
The sources of deflation are not a mystery. Deflation is in almost all cases a side effect of a collapse of aggregate demand.. a drop in spending so severe that producers must cut prices on an ongoing basis in order to find buyers.
BEN BERNANKE

Cutting Ongoing Order
We’ve never had a decline in house prices on a nationwide basis. So, what I think what is more likely is that house prices will slow, maybe stabilize, might slow consumption spending a bit. I don’t think it’s going to drive the economy too far from its full employment path, though.
BEN BERNANKE

Employment House Thinking
A gold standard doesn’t imply stability in the prices of the goods and services that people buy every day, it implies a stability in the price of gold itself.
BEN BERNANKE

Gold People Standard
It must be awfully frustrating to get a small raise at work and then have it all eaten by a higher cost of commuting.
BEN BERNANKE

Cost Frustrating Raises
Our mission, as set forth by the Congress is a critical one: to preserve price stability, to foster maximum sustainable growth in output and employment, and to promote a stable and efficient financial system that serves all Americans well and fairly.
BEN BERNANKE

Employment Financial Growth
The risk that the economy has entered a substantial downturn appears to have diminished over the past month or so.
BEN BERNANKE

Months Past Risk
Both humanity’s capacity to innovate and the incentives to innovate are greater today than at any other time in history.
BEN BERNANKE

Humanity Incentives Today
The people who best use their advantages, or overcome adversity, and work honestly are those most worthy of admiration.
BEN BERNANKE

Adversity People Use
The Federal Reserve is not currently forecasting a recession.
BEN BERNANKE

Federal Forecasting Recession Reserve
How much would you pay to avoid a second Depression?
BEN BERNANKE

Borrow Depression Great Pay
If your uniform isn’t dirty, you haven’t been in the game.
BEN BERNANKE

Dirty Game Graduation
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.
BEN BERNANKE

Government Technology Wish
The amount of currency in circulation is not changing. The money supply is not changing in any significant way.
BEN BERNANKE

Currency Significant Way
Weaker currencies abroad mean a strong dollar, and a stronger dollar, together with a weak global environment, is a drag on the U.S. econom.
BEN BERNANKE

Important Mean Strong
I don’t see much evidence of an equity bubble.
BEN BERNANKE

Bubbles Equity Evidence
In fact, the world needs more nerds.
BEN BERNANKE

Needs Nerd World

Economics is a highly sophisticated field of thought that is superb at explaining to policymakers precisely why the choices they made in the past were wrong. About the future, not so much.

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Economics is a highly sophisticated field of thought that is superb at explaining to policymakers precisely why the choices they made in the past were wrong. About the future, not so much.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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