Best Ben Bernanke Quotes & Sayings

I am very proud of my nerd-dom. — Ben Bernanke

The people who best use their advantages, or overcome adversity, and work honestly are those most worthy of admiration. — Ben Bernanke

Developments in financial markets can have broad economic effects felt by many outside the markets. — Ben Bernanke

After a long period in which the desired direction for inflation was always downward, the industrialized world's central banks must today try to avoid major changes in the inflation rate in either direction. — 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

In the tradition of national income accounting, economic policymakers have typically focused on variables such as income, wealth, and consumption. — Ben Bernanke

Economics is a very difficult subject. I've compared it to trying to learn how to repair a car when the engine is running. — Ben Bernanke

To the extent that bank panics interfere with normal flows of credit, they may affect the performance of the real economy. — Ben Bernanke

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

The Federal Reserve, like other central banks, wields powerful tools; democratic accountability requires that the public be able to see how and for what purposes those tools are being used. — Ben Bernanke

Of course, economic forecasts must be revised when new information arrives and are thus necessarily provisional. — Ben Bernanke

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. — Ben Bernanke

It takes about two and a half percent growth just to keep unemployment stable. — Ben Bernanke

The downturn following the collapse of Japan's so-called bubble economy of the 1980s was not as severe as the Great Depression. — Ben Bernanke

To be sure, the provision of liquidity alone can by no means solve the problems of credit risk and credit losses; but it can reduce liquidity premiums, help restore the confidence of investors, and thus promote stability. — Ben Bernanke

Honest error in the face of complex and possibly intractable problems is a far more important source of bad results than are bad motives. — Ben Bernanke

To minimize market uncertainty and achieve the maximum effect of its policies, the Federal Reserve is committed to providing the public as much information as possible about the uses of its balance sheet, plans regarding future uses of its balance sheet, and the criteria on which the relevant decisions are based. — Ben Bernanke

The Mexican debt crisis, Latin American debt crisis, the crises of the 1990s, the Wall Street stock market crash, and other events should have reminded us, and did remind us, that financial instability remains a concern, remains a problem. — Ben Bernanke

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. — Ben Bernanke

There are a number of institutions globally where the Federal Reserve typically leads the U.S. effort to work with financial regulators from other countries, and we try to, to the extent possible, establish international standards for how - the amount of capital a bank should hold, for example, or how much. — Ben Bernanke

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

The best solution to income inequality is providing a high-quality education for everybody. In our highly technological, globalized economy, people without education will not be able to improve their economic situation. — Ben Bernanke

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

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. — Ben Bernanke

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

If Australia finds it has a strong Australian dollar, and it has higher unemployment, then it would have to respond, and that would either be by increasing domestic demand or by weakening its own currency. — Ben Bernanke

I think most of us would agree that people who have, say, little formal schooling but labor honestly and diligently to help feed, clothe, and educate their families are deserving of greater respect - and help, if necessary - than many people who are superficially more successful. — Ben Bernanke

The Fed's independence is critical. — Ben Bernanke

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. — Ben Bernanke

The world has a great deal more to offer than money. — Ben Bernanke

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. — Ben Bernanke

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. — Ben Bernanke

Evolving technologies that allow economists to gather new types of data and to manipulate millions of data points are just one factor among several that are likely to transform the field in coming years. — Ben Bernanke

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

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

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. — Ben Bernanke

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

As an educator myself, I understand the profound effect that good teachers and a quality education have on the lives of our young people. — Ben Bernanke

History has demonstrated time and again the inherent resilience and recuperative powers of the American economy. — Ben Bernanke

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

Deflation is defined as a general decline in prices, with emphasis on the word 'general.' — Ben Bernanke

I don't think that Chinese ownership of U.S. assets is so large as to put our country at risk economically. — Ben Bernanke