Ross Douthat Quotes

Well obviously the economy is critical to everything we do and we need to get the economy back in shape, the deficit down, the debt paid off, so that the economy can grow again and grow properly.

I have said repeatedly that the way to sustainable growth is to bring down inflation to much more reasonable levels.

Paul Volcker is a tremendous hero with the Federal Reserve system and for the American economy. He took very tough actions and helped to break the back of double-digit inflation at a time when it had to be done.

After a long period in which the desired direction for inflation was always downward, the industrialized world's central banks must today try to avoid major changes in the inflation rate in either direction.

If Congress wanted to intervene with the Federal Reserve, well, we created the Federal Reserve. We could uncreate it. But would you want Congress regulating the money supply? We'd have drowned in inflation, or gone bankrupt, decades ago.

And so we have to be careful with looking at additional stimulus that we don't provoke an increase in the bond rate and then offset a lot of the stimulus we've already got.

I've got a chart here that shows our debt-to-GDP ratio. And while we did run deficits in the past, we now number our debt in trillions rather than in billions. And I think that represents a long-term danger, especially to the, the American dream.

The benefit of appointing a hawkish central banker is the increased inflation-fighting credibility that such an appointment brings.

When growth is slower-than-expected, stocks go down. When inflation is higher-than-expected, bonds go down. When inflation is lower-than-expected, bonds go up.

Low and stable inflation in many countries is an important accomplishment that will continue to bring significant benefits.

I have spoken about deficits, and I think deficits are important because they address broad economic and financial stability. We need to talk about that.

You cannot spend your way out of recession or borrow your way out of debt.

Moderation of oil prices would be very, very welcome. But overall I think we are in a position of stable growth, sustainable growth, and basically with inflation in check.

Deficits do not in themselves produce inflation, nor does a balanced budget assure a stable price level.

When the economy is growing, there's a lot that can be done to deal with the deficit.

Governments can inflate their way out of debt, but that has consequences, doesn't it?

We agree with Simpson and Bowles and others who have looked at this. What's necessary is to stabilize the debt and then work from there. You can't balance the budget in the short term because to do that would be to ratchet down the economy.

Deficits aren't always bad if you invest the money.

Our purpose is to lean against the winds of deflation or inflation, whichever way they are blowing.

Without deficit reduction, we cannot have sustained economic growth.

What you need to be concerned about is the rate of inflation and the direction of interest rates. If they are both going in the wrong direction in 1980, you're not going to be re-elected.

The country needed someone credible to fight inflation and Volker was the man for the job…. He understood that the government had to establish credibility in order to give policy makers flexibility when they needed it.

There is nobody who would want, in any way, to lose what Paul Volcker won for the American people by fighting inflation and achieving price stability.

The only way to ensure that inflation expectations remain safely anchored near the FOMC's target is to keep inflation close to that target on a consistent basis.

Very few countries grow at high rate if inflation is high and volatile. I think, in a way, we are doing our bit to support a higher growth rate, but on a durable basis.