Ben Bernanke Quotes

The Fed's independence is critical.

The job of the Central Bank is to worry.

I’ve always been a little nervous about the Fed. Quite frankly, I’m a little nervous about the degree of their independence.

I will be the first to say that it is always difficult to get monetary policy just right. But the Fed's analytical prowess is top-notch, and our forecasting record is second to none.

The Federal Reserve is the overlord of the money supply. If these two are not steering in the same direction, they can either neutralize each other or have the economy lurching in all directions. This is not a rational system for setting economic policy. It has given us trouble in the past, as the text will establish, and will inevitably in the future.

The Fed's policy choices can always be debated, but the quality and commitment of the Federal Reserve as a public institution is second to none, and I am proud to lead it.

Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce.

He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation.

There's no other job in public life that is like chairman of the Fed.

The first requisite of a sound monetary system is that it put the least possible power over the quantity or quality of money in the hands of the politicians.

Interest rates are used to achieve overall economic stability.

The powers vested in the Federal Reserve Board seen to me highly dangerous especially where there is political control of the Board.

I don't have any influence over the Fed [Federal Reserve System], none at all. It's carefully isolated from any influence by the President or Congress.

To some extent the Federal Reserve considers itself government. Other times, when it serves, it considers itself not government.

My gracious, here I am the new chairman ... and I haven't the faintest idea of how you control the money supply. Yet everyone thinks I have it at my fingertips.

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.

I don’t think that the Fed [Federal Reserve] ever can be or should be a prisoner of the markets.

Monetary stability is a cornerstone of the social contract.

I'm a strong-and-stable-dollar advocate, and the Fed has been moving dangerously away from that mission.

The government will always tell you that it wants low inflation. The real issue is the horizon over which to bring inflation down.

I think we do need to try to not just rely on the central bank to, in its wisdom, adjust interest rates, but allow for people to avoid being exposed to inflation risk.

What is important for a central banker is that you have to convey that you know what you are doing.

I believe that being in a position, as a central bank, to influence economic growth does not mean losing independence.

I think that is a very important milestone in our economic history that the monetary policy is now determined through a committee process where there are both independent committee members and representation from the RBI.

The most important thing to remember is that inflation is not an act of God, that inflation is not a catastrophe of the elements or a disease that comes like the plague. Inflation is a policy.