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One might as well try to perform brain surgery with a sledgehammer.

Ben Bernanke

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

Choices Fields Past
I don’t fully understand movements in the gold price.
BEN BERNANKE

Gold Movement Price
I don’t think that Chinese ownership of U.S. assets is so large as to put our country at risk economically.
BEN BERNANKE

Country Risk Thinking
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
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
BEN BERNANKE

Decision Economics Responsibility
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
[Virtual Currencies] may hold long-term promise, particularly if the innovations Promote a faster, more secure and more efficient payment system.
BEN BERNANKE

Innovation Long Promise
If I am confirmed, I am confident that my colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee and I will maintain the focus on long-term price stability as monetary policy’s greatest contribution to general economic prosperity and maximum employment.
BEN BERNANKE

Employment Focus Long
The GSEs are adequately capitalized. They are in no danger of failing.
BEN BERNANKE

Capitalized Danger Failing
…the Federal Reserve has the capacity to operate in domestic money markets to maintain interest rates at a level consistent with our economic goals
BEN BERNANKE

Goal Investing Levels
Indeed, in general, healthy investment returns cannot be sustained in a weak economy, and of course it is difficult to save for retirement or other goals without the income from a job.
BEN BERNANKE

Goal Job Retirement
The Fed is totally open.
BEN BERNANKE

Fed Feel Open Totally
The economist John Maynard Keynes said that in the long run, we are all dead. If he were around today he might say that, in the long run, we are all on Social Security and Medicare.
BEN BERNANKE

Long might Running
The impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime markets seems likely to be contained.
BEN BERNANKE

Financial Impact Problem
If your uniform isn’t dirty, you haven’t been in the game.
BEN BERNANKE

Dirty Game Graduation
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.
BEN BERNANKE

Investing Risk Use
We do not expect significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the economy or to the financial system.
BEN BERNANKE

Economy Financial Significant
If you are asking me if I would advocate that the Chinese go to greater flexibility in their exchange rate, I certainly would.
BEN BERNANKE

Asking Chinese Rate
Over the years, the U.S. economy has shown a remarkable ability to absorb shocks of all kinds, to recover, and to continue to grow.
BEN BERNANKE

Kind Success Years
If you are not happy with yourself, even the loftiest achievements won’t bring you much satisfaction.
BEN BERNANKE

Achievement Not Happy Satisfaction
A collapse in U.S. stock prices certainly would cause a lot of white knuckles on Wall Street. But what effect would it have on the broader U.S. economy? If Wall Street crashes, does Main Street follow? Not necessarily.
BEN BERNANKE

Country Stock Street Wall White
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
I am confident that we will meet whatever challenges the future may bring.
BEN BERNANKE

Challenges Confident May Meet
If you want to understand geology, study earthquakes. If you want to understand the economy, study the Depression.
BEN BERNANKE

Depression Earthquake Want
The risk exists that, with aggregate demand exhibiting considerable momentum, output could overshoot its sustainable path, leading ultimately in the absence of countervailing monetary policy action to further upward pressure on inflation.
BEN BERNANKE

Demand Path Risk
The crisis and recession have led to very low interest rates, it is true, but these events have also destroyed jobs, hamstrung economic growth and led to sharp declines in the values of many homes and businesses.
BEN BERNANKE

Growth Home Jobs
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

One might as well try to perform brain surgery with a sledgehammer.

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One might as well try to perform brain surgery with a sledgehammer.

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