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Ben Bernanke Quotes
• Every effort needs to be made to try and offset the costs of Katrina and Rita by reductions in other government programs, especially those that are wasteful, duplicative and ineffective.
• 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.
• Achieving price stability is not only important in itself, it is also central to attaining the Federal Reserve's other mandate objectives of maximum sustainable employment and moderate long-term interest rates.
• According to government ethics rules and FOMC rules, it is permissible for a retired governor to speak in public about the economy, so long as he or she does not divulge confidential information. I have no indication that he has violated that rule.
• I don't think that Chinese ownership of U.S. assets is so large as to put our country at risk economically.
• If you are asking me if I would advocate that the Chinese go to greater flexibility in their exchange rate, I certainly would.
• 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.
• There appears to be some possibility that the recent trend toward disinflation will continue, primarily because of the potentially large amount of economic slack in the system.
• Quantitatively, outsourcing abroad simply cannot account for much of the recent weakness in the U.S. labor market and does not appear likely to be an important restraint to further recovery in employment.
• This step would in no way reduce the importance of maximum employment as a policy goal. In any case, I assure this committee that if I am confirmed, I will take no precipitate steps in the direction of quantifying the definition of long-run price stability. This matter requires further study at the Federal Reserve as well as extensive discussion and consultation.
• Under a cold turkey strategy, at each policy meeting the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) 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.
• One might as well try to perform brain surgery with a sledgehammer.
• 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.
• Our mission as set forth by the Congress is a critical one.
• Reducing the burdens borne by displaced workers is the right and fair thing to do. If workers are less fearful of change, less pressure will be exerted on politicians to erect trade barriers or to take other actions that would reduce the flexibility and dynamism of the U.S. economy.
• I am confident that we will meet whatever challenges the future may bring.
• The economy is much more energy efficient today than it was in the 1970s when energy shocks contributed to share slowdowns.
• Our understanding of the best practice in monetary policy evolved during Alan Greenspan's tenure at the Fed, and it will continue to evolve in the future.
• It's only an attempt to perhaps provide a bit of additional confidence, a bit of additional assurance or a bit of additional certainty to the markets about the Federal Reserve's long-term objective.
• 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.
• If I am confirmed, I will be strictly independent of all political influences and will be guided solely by the Federal Reserve's mandate from Congress and by the public interest.
• I think policy is currently quite accommodative. I think it can remain quite accommodative for a while to come.
• These are issues that we are going to have to address, because they are significant.
• It's been a resilient economy, it's responded well and job creation has proceeded apace.
• Even if the economy recovers smartly for the rest of this year and the next, the ongoing slack in the economy may still lead to continuing disinflation.
• In any case, the Federal Reserve will continue to monitor this sector closely.
• At this point, a leveling out or a modest softening of housing activity seems more likely than a sharp contraction, although significant uncertainty attends the outlook for home prices and construction.
• According to government ethics rules and FOMC rules, it is permissible for a retired governor to speak in public about the economy, so long as he or she does not divulge confidential information. I have no indication that he has violated that rule.
Ben Bernanke Bibliography
2007 - Principles of Micro Economics2007 - Principles of Macro Economics
2005 - Essays on the Great Depression
2005 - Inflation Targeting: Lessons from the International Experience
2001 - Macroeconomics
1992 - Inflation Targeting: Lessons from the International Experience
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