Quotes from Ben S. Bernanke

But in my heart I knew that use of our emergency authority could only be justified when it served the broad public interest.

Obama seemed more interested in my views than McCain was.

purchases despite his unease.

The failure of this firm was unlikely to have a broad economic impact, and so we believed a 13(3) loan was not justified.

Don recommended that we wait and see what private-sector solutions might emerge,

I had a favorable impression of McCain, a straight talker and an effective senator.

We remain close to this day.

I told her truthfully that it had been more my fault than hers.

the borrower's collateral had to be sound enough that the Federal Reserve could reasonably expect full repayment.

I don't think we're there yet, but we're getting closer.

the requirement also limited the interventions available to the Fed.

might result only in banking activity moving out of the United States to foreign financial centers.

MARKETS SEEMED TO anticipate QE2 and take it in stride.

they now occurred in different forms.

Our situation seems to be getting trickier by the day,

but sometimes it seemed that she put the fund ahead of the interests of the broader financial system.)

worried that inflation might develop some momentum.

When the repo agreement comes due, the borrower (a Wall Street investment bank, say, or a hedge fund) can renew, or "roll over," the loan with the same lender

And as estimates of the company's cash needs grew, the interest of potential buyers waned. With

in the absence of international coordination those rules might be inconsistent with U.S. standards,

implying that we had not yet made up our minds whether to end our tightening campaign or to raise rates.

Relative to the enormous size of the mortgage market, the number seemed small to me.

Moreover, even if foreign jurisdictions adopted comparably tough rules, in the absence of international coordination those rules might be inconsistent with U.S. standards,

A few economists weighed in against our decision as well.