Quotes About Economy

to respond flexibly to economic developments without the constraint of an announced target.

Inflation prospects posed some tricky issues.

because there is a lag between changes in monetary policy and their effect on the economy.

But lawmakers had avoided tackling those critical long-run issues in favor of near-term spending cuts and tax increases that weakened the already weak economy.

We—correctly, in hindsight—had resisted raising interest rates.

But what if the economy stalled yet again, perhaps for reasons outside our control, such as fiscal stringency at home or a resurgence of the European crisis?

The initial August report showed a complete stall in job growth.

The unemployment rate, after its encouraging drop early in the year, would stagnate near 9 percent into the fall

We saw the cooldown in housing as mostly good news.

One headwind was the lingering effects of the financial crisis.

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.

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

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.

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.

and it might even be the key to preventing the economy from sliding back into recession.

Although austerity in the more troubled countries was probably unavoidable, given how indebted they were, it predictably pushed them deeper into recession.

We viewed some cooling in what had been an overheated sector as inevitable and even desirable.

which left it unprepared for the shock of the crisis.

Moreover, the nation's banks seemed ready to withstand any spillover from housing.

and I didn't expect any meaningful economic damage.

purchases despite his unease.