Ben Bernanke
To be sure, faster growth in nominal labor compensation does not necessarily portend higher inflation.
Since World War II, inflation - the apparently inexorable rise in the prices of goods and services - has been the bane of central bankers.
Deflation is defined as a general decline in prices, with emphasis on the word 'general.'
Sector-specific price declines, uncomfortable as they may be for producers in that sector, are generally not a problem for the economy as a whole and do not constitute deflation.
The failure of Lehman Brothers demonstrated that liquidity provision by the Federal Reserve would not be sufficient to stop the crisis; substantial fiscal resources were necessary.
Among other objectives, liquidity guidelines must take into account the risks that inadequate liquidity planning by major financial firms pose for the broader financial system, and they must ensure that these firms do not become excessively reliant on liquidity support from the central bank.
The role of liquidity in systemic events provides yet another reason why, in the future, a more system wide or macroprudential approach to regulation is needed.
Long-term unemployment is particularly costly to those directly affected, of course. But in addition, because of its negative effects on workers' skills and attachment to the labor force, long-term unemployment may ultimately reduce the productive capacity of our economy.
In any given month, a large number of workers are being hired or are leaving their current jobs, illustrating the dynamism of the U.S. labor market.
For many of us, owning a home signaled a passage into adulthood that coincided with the start of a career and family.
Now that I'm a civilian again, I can once more comment on economic and financial issues without my words being put under the microscope by Fed watchers.
Certainly, 9 percent unemployment and very slow growth is not a good situation.
When historical relationships are taken into account, it is difficult to ascribe the house price bubble either to monetary policy or to the broader macroeconomic environment.
Many savers are also homeowners; indeed, a family's home may be its most important financial asset. Many savers are working, or would like to be.
The Federal Reserve Act requires the Federal Reserve to report annually on its operations and to publish its balance sheet weekly.
The Fed's policy choices can always be debated, but the quality and commitment of the Federal Reserve as a public institution is second to none, and I am proud to lead it.
Small businesses have played an important role in fueling past economic recoveries.
Community development has a long history of innovation and learning from experience.
For practitioners of community development, as in any field, joining a network of like-minded professionals is important for building skills and becoming aware of opportunities and resources.
Neighborhoods and communities are complex organisms that will be resilient only if they are healthy along a number of interrelated dimensions, much as a human body cannot be healthy without adequate air, water, rest, and food.
The decline in home equity makes it more difficult for struggling homeowners to refinance and reduces the financial incentive of stressed borrowers to remain in their homes.
Consumers going through foreclosure typically will see their credit scores drop, raising longer-term questions about their ability to rebound financially and perhaps pursue a more sustainable home purchase at some later point.
I don't think there are any students who should not be exposed to a basic financial literacy course.
Smart financial planning - such as budgeting, saving for emergencies, and preparing for retirement - can help households enjoy better lives while weathering financial shocks. Financial education can play a key role in getting to these outcomes.
When the economic well-being of their nation demanded a strong and creative response, my colleagues at the Federal Reserve... mustered the moral courage to do what was necessary.
In the typical economic recovery, a resurgent housing sector helps fuel reemployment and rising incomes.
Economic science concerns itself primarily with theoretical and empirical generalizations about the behavior of individuals, institutions, markets, and national economies. Most academic research falls in this category.
Economic engineering is about the design and analysis of frameworks for achieving specific economic objectives.
Economic management involves the operation of economic frameworks in real time - for example, in the private sector, the management of complex financial institutions or, in the public sector, the day-to-day supervision of those institutions.
The one thing people don't appreciate, I think, is that central banking is not a new development. It's been around for a very long time.
To achieve a more balanced international system over time, countries with excessive and unsustainable trade surpluses will need to allow their exchange rates to better reflect market fundamentals.
In a mature economy like India's, which is becoming modern and a financially-oriented economy, an independent central bank, responsible central bank, is really central to success.
Preventing liquidation of an unbalanced market will leave you in tears.
Uncertainty is seen to retard investment independently of considerations of risk or expected return.
Different countries have different kinds of financial structures.
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.Collection: Dirty
I'd throw dollars out of helicopters if I had to, to stimulate the economy.Collection: Dollars
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.Collection: Technology
The Federal Reserve is not currently forecasting a recession.Collection: Federal Reserve
The impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime markets seems likely to be contained.Collection: Impact
Economics is a very difficult subject. I've compared it to trying to learn how to repair a car when the engine is running.Collection: Running
It is not the responsibility of the Federal Bank - nor would it be appropriate - to protect lenders and investors from the consequences of their decisionsCollection: Responsibility
There's no denying that a collapse in stock prices today would pose serious macroeconomic challenges for the United States. Consumer spending would slow, and the U.S. economy would become less of a magnet for foreign investors. Economic growth, which in any case has recently been at unsustainable levels, would decline somewhat. History proves, however, that a smart central bank can protect the economy and the financial sector from the nastier side effects of a stock market collapse.Collection: Smart
A money-financed tax cut is essentially equivalent to Milton Friedman's famous 'helicopter drop' of money.Collection: Cutting
To avoid large and unsustainable budget deficits, the nation will ultimately have to choose among higher taxes, modifications to entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, less spending on everything else from education to defense, or some combination of the above.Collection: Defense
Like gold, U.S. dollars have value only to the extent that they are strictly limited in supply. But 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. By increasing the number of U.S. dollars in circulation, or even by credibly threatening to do so, the U.S. government can also reduce the value of a dollar in terms of goods and services, which is equivalent to raising the prices in dollars of those goods and services.Collection: Technology
I don't see much evidence of an equity bubble.Collection: Evidence
The Federal Reserve will not monetize the debt.Collection: Debt
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.Collection: Past