Edmund Phelps Quotes

If unemployment could be brought down to say 2 percent at the cost of an assured steady rate of inflation of 10 percent per year, or even 20 percent, this would be a good bargain.

The central focus of what we are doing at the Fed is to keep inflation from accelerating - and preferably decelerating.

We simply cannot check inflation by keeping people out of work.

Whip Inflation Now

I'm just opposed to a pure inflation-only mandate in which the only thing a central bank cares about is inflation and not employment.

Inflation is lower and more stable and the real business cycle fluctuations are more modest.

People forget how difficult it is to stop inflation or get it under control… I worry about it all the time.

I reject the advice of those who think the only way to fight inflation is to throw millions of people out of work .... I guarantee you that I will not fight inflation with your jobs.

Attempting to control inflation or protect the dollar by throwing legions of people out of work and shutting down shifts in our factories and mines is a hopeless policy.

I am strongly committed to pursuing the dual goals that Congress has assigned us: maximum employment and price stability.

Monetary policy will, as always, respond to the economy's twists and turns so as to promote, as best as we can in an uncertain economic environment, the employment and inflation goals.

For risk management reasons, we need to make sure we hit our inflation objective at the same time we're at full employment.

We have been mandated by the government, backed by legislation, that we have to have an inflation target of about 4%.

The Congress has tasked the Federal Reserve with achieving stable prices and maximum employment - the dual mandate.

The Federal Reserve is committed to fulfilling our statutory mandate of stable prices and maximum employment.

No politician can praise unemployment or inflation, and there is no way of combining high employment with stable prices that does not involve some control of income and prices. Otherwise the struggle for more consumption and more income to sustain it-a struggle that modern corporations, modern unions and modern democracy all facilitate and encourage-will drive up prices. Only heavy unemployment will then temper this upward thrust. Not many wish to confront the truth that the modern economy gives a choice only between inflation, unemployment, or controls.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is committed to policies that promote maximum employment and price stability, consistent with our mandate from Congress.

If global oil prices or commodity prices are high, then it is bound to create inflation. So, we should not be too worried if the inflation is created by global commodity prices. When they come down, inflation will automatically come down.

The Federal Reserve cannot solve all the economy's problems on its own.

If I am confirmed, I am confident that my colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee and I will maintain the focus on long-term price stability as monetary policy's greatest contribution to general economic prosperity and maximum employment.

Disciples of Keynes, who focus on aggregate demand, view any increase in household wealth as raising employment because they say it adds to consumer demand.

You do not have to be an economist to know that putting up the cost of employing someone is a pretty barking thing to do when you're trying to get out of a recession.

Models used to describe and predict inflation commonly distinguish between changes in food and energy prices - which enter into total inflation - and movements in the prices of other goods and services - that is, core inflation.

To me, a wise and humane policy is occasionally to let inflation rise even when inflation is running above target.

Domestic inflation reflects domestic monetary policy.