Quotes About Ben S. Bernanke

I had become a Great Depression buff in the way that other people are Civil War buffs, reading not only about the economics of the period but about the politics, sociology, and history as well.

My resolve against backstopping Fannie and Freddie didn't last long.

Nevertheless, the perceived stigma of borrowing from the discount window was and remains a formidable barrier to its effectiveness.

Much of the negative reaction resulted from a communications misstep.

market participants grew even more concerned that the Fed wasn't being proactive enough.

It seemed to me that the lack of credit after the collapse of the banking system had to have played a significant role in the slump as well.

Low-quality mortgages ended up imperiling the entire financial system—not so much because of the direct losses on the mortgages themselves, which were significant but likely manageable, but because of the securitization boom, which carved those mortgages into securities that became a ubiquitous form of currency and collateral throughout the system.

King gave me an important piece of information: He

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

and I didn't expect any meaningful economic damage.

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

the requirement also limited the interventions available to the Fed.

a sign that investors weren't shunning the mortgage securities to the extent that they had been.

presidents were particularly alarmed at the prospect of losing bank supervision duties

something that I had been advocating since I arrived at the Fed in 2002. In

I found him to be smart and very tough. (His heavy New York accent contributed to that impression.)

Tim's departure would be a significant loss to the Fed.

But he would remain in close touch with us in his new capacity as adviser to the president-elect.

letting Citi go was not an option.

It was one authority I was happy to lose.

1948). The formal ceremony was legally redundant, but it was a nice event for our relatives and for the staff.

that a program of this size and importance should be undertaken with FOMC approval,

By March 2010, we would phase out the auctions completely.

but acknowledged his opposition to the idea.