Quotes from Ben S. Bernanke

But Sheila came very close to characterizing anyone not fully in support of her plan as an opponent of foreclosure relief in general.

But testifying was easier than saying no to Barney.

He was highly respected in Europe and around the world.

offering advice to the administration and Congress when we thought we could be helpful.

There was a refreshing purity to their views, which seemed often unaffected by real-world complexities. The

Would it have been better for market confidence to have admitted that we were unable to save Lehman?

the Fed had only limited ability to help homeowners in trouble.

Or was it better to maintain ambiguity, as we did, which suggested we still had the capacity to carry out future interventions? I don't know.

to support the flow of credit to households and businesses.

graduating two years ahead of me.

I feared at the time that avoiding the firm's failure might only delay the inevitable. Today

foreclosed homes rarely resell for good prices,

Going to Congress with a proposal only to have it turned down would devastate market confidence.

I was always puzzled by the combination of Dodd's apparently high personal regard for me and his willingness to blast the Federal Reserve, as if I had had nothing to do with the Fed's decisions and policies.

Unfortunately, institutional barriers and operational complexities sometimes prevented loan modifications that would otherwise make sense.

They would fear having their ownership stake diluted,

president wanted assurances that they would be kept in the loop,

During our conversation, I was surprised to learn of his affinity for Wagnerian opera.

I was delighted. I both counted him as a friend and saw him as a dedicated and highly qualified public servant.

If not interest rates or monetary policy, then what? Most research on the origins of the bubble has focused on three factors: mass psychology; financial innovations that reduced the incentive for careful lending;

each lender was typically reluctant to offer a modification without concessions from the other. Servicers

But many voters evidently saw the issue as favoring irresponsible borrowers at the expense of the responsible.

There was simply no historical precedent for solving a financial crisis of this magnitude without significant taxpayer dollars and the political will to undertake the effort.

he was graciously evasive and said he wasn't certain he would have done anything different and that I was "doing an excellent job.