Ben Bernanke Economy Quotations

No economy can succeed without a high-quality workforce, particularly in an age of globalization and technical change.

Well, optimism's a good thing. It - makes people go out and - you know, start businesses and spend and do whatever is necessary to get the economy going.

History proves... that a smart central bank can protect the economy and the financial sector from the nastier side effects of a stock market collapse.

We do not expect significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the economy or to the financial system.

Although low inflation is generally good, inflation that is too low can pose risks to the economy - especially when the economy is struggling.

The financial crisis appears to be mostly behind us, and the economy seems to have stabilized and is expanding again.

I'd throw dollars out of helicopters if I had to, to stimulate the economy.

Sector-specific price declines, uncomfortable as they may be for producers in that sector, are generally not a problem for the economy as a whole and do not constitute deflation.

Only a strong economy can create higher asset values and sustainably good returns for savers.

If bankers become overly conservative in response to past lending mistakes - or if examiners force such behavior - it will hurt bankers' own long-term interests and the economy in general.

Under constrained discretion, the central bank is free to do its best to stabilize output and employment in the face of short-run disturbances, with the appropriate caution born of our imperfect knowledge of the economy and of the effects of policy (this is the 'discretion' part of constrained discretion),

Those high oil prices are a burden on U.S. families, on firms' production costs. But the good news is that at least so far the U.S. economy has not been slowed by the high energy prices.

The crisis in Europe has affected the U.S. economy by acting as a drag on our exports, weighing on business and consumer confidence, and pressuring U.S. financial markets and institutions.

We're much more data-driven. We need to continually re-evaluate our forecasts and think about the prospects for the economy and make our decisions based on what the information is that's coming into our hands.

To say that the U.S. economy benefits from trade is not to say that every individual American worker or family benefits, or that the structural changes induced by trade are not disruptive,

Even if the economy recovers smartly for the rest of this year and the next, the ongoing slack in the economy may still lead to continuing disinflation,

The resilience of the economy ... is helping it to absorb the shocks to energy and transportation from the hurricanes.

After several false starts, the economy is showing signs of sustained recovery,

As long as there's not permanent damage to our energy infrastructure, the effects on the overall economy should be fairly modest.

As long as we find that the energy impact is only temporary ... my guess is that the effects on the overall economy will be fairly modest.

Although the U.S. economy has managed modest real growth through 2002 and into 2003, most economists agree that a strong and well-balanced recovery will require a greater contribution from the business sector, in the form of increased capital investment and hiring,

According to government ethics rules ... it is permissible for a retired (Fed) governor to speak in public about the economy so long as he or she does not divulge confidential information. I have no indication that he has violated that rule.

The U.S. economy is in the midst of a strong and sustainable economic expansion.

I'm... fairly optimistic today about the ability of the U.S. economy to absorb these body blows.

Clearly it's going to affect the Gulf Coast economy quite a bit. You've had a lot of property damage. Basic services are down.

Clearly, it's going to affect the Gulf Coast economy quite a bit,

Certainly there is no way to direct the effects of monetary policy at a single class of assets while leaving other financial markets and the broader economy untouched. One might as well try to perform brain surgery with a sledgehammer.

The economy is much more energy efficient today than it was in the 1970s when energy shocks contributed to share slowdowns,