Mohamed El-Erian Quotes

When I took over, the economy had almost collapsed. I told Malawians we needed to pass through difficult times. Two days ago I even cut my own salary by 30% to show we are making sacrifices.

Prosperity cannot be restored by raids upon the public Treasury.

If we don't get a grip on government spending, there will be no growth.

The more we can get Washington out of the way, the stronger our economy and our country will be.

Fiscal policy is not just, or even not even principally, the purview of the president.

One needs a comprehensive concept that decides just how much debt states like Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy can sustainably bear.

With the lessons taken from the financial crisis in 1997, the Republic of Korea has been able to surmount the global economic crisis rather successfully.

The financial crisis in our country is not a passing storm. Given the size of the problems, our national effort will not be completed in 2012. It will take many years and will require the efforts and insistence of several governments.

Turkey's economy is powerful enough to tackle tough times.

The ECB's interventions in sovereign bond markets should not be perceived or interpreted as a 'freebie' for governments. They are temporary.

Forget about banks that are too big to fail; the focus should be on cities, municipalities and countries that are too big to fail.

It is better to implement reforms in times of economic strength.

We have much more to fear from economic weakness in Europe than in economic strength in Europe.

Fiscal discipline can turn the economy around.

The Netherlands has been severely hit by the debt crisis, and the solution is to lower taxes, get government finances in order, and make room for investment.

Venezuela needs to develop; economic growth is essential for the country after so many years of lagging behind.

The journey towards restoring balance to markets, led by the kingdom, is proving successful despite the challenges.

No amount of debt restructuring, even debt forgiveness, will help the Greeks achieve real prosperity. What they need is not short-term relief but, rather, a long-term cure.

I will not let anyone tell me we must spend more money. This crisis did not come about because we issued too little money but because we created economic growth with too much money and it was not sustainable growth.

The Obama administration's large and sustained increases in debt raise the specter of another financial crisis and large future tax increases, further chilling business investment and job creation.

At this time - we're in a dramatic crisis - euro bonds are precisely the wrong answer. They lead us into a debt union, not a stability union. Each country has to take its own steps to reduce its debt.

Gradual fiscal consolidation may also be stimulative in the short run.

We have got to cut the spending. We have got to fix Medicare and Social Security. And actually, if we don't cut spending, this country is already broke. We are going off the financial cliff: the big cliff that is going to cause a total economic collapse of America.

Greece's debts are all denominated in euros, but it isn't clear who holds how much of those debts. For that reason, the consequences of a national bankruptcy would be incalculable. Greece is just as systemically important as a major bank.

The vast majority of Greeks accept the need for reform and want to keep our country inside the euro zone.