Quotes from Ben S. Bernanke

But now I thought he risked undermining public confidence in the Fed

which restricts the flow of credit, which makes the downturn deeper and more protracted.

we had no means of saving the firm.

firms would do what they could to stay away.

I knew I could count on the support of Eric Rosengren

Tight fiscal policies were arguably offsetting much of the effect of our monetary efforts.

abyss. I pressed Tim for an alternative solution, but he had none.

But at some point a strengthening economy and rising inflation pressures would presumably force us to raise short-term interest rates. It was possible to end up temporarily paying more interest on banks' reserves than we earned on the securities we held, which in turn might lead to several years in which we had little or no profits to remit to the Treasury.

But the end of tightening seemed in sight.

Janet favored strong action and I suspected that Sarah would, too, along with Dan Tarullo. Betsy

in part because of a resurgence of the European crisis.

Soon it might make sense to leave rates where they were for a meeting or two while we assessed the economy's prospects.

That dynamic would doom our efforts to failure.

and Betsy agreed to support additional purchases, though without enthusiasm.

We needed skilled and experienced professionals to come in and quickly restructure troubled firms.

the rate was virtually unchanged from the start of the year.

Sorry to hear that. Good luck with all that's going on," Seth replied. "All that's going on" was something of an understatement.

Their skills were getting rusty and they were losing their contacts in the working world.

was not subject to oversight by insurance regulators.

In worrying about the practical aspects of the plan more than political considerations, I may have been tone-deaf.

Assuming that my words would be taken at face value was my first mistake.

because I knew that there was plenty of blame to go around, including at the Fed and other regulatory agencies and in Congress.

but it was another source of concern.

Perhaps my low-key approach hurt us politically, but I was not comfortable proceeding in any other way.