Barack Obama Quotes

I think the market should reward banks that have been transparent in recognising their problems. I think the tendency of banks to hide the problem assets over a period of three or four years should not be allowed.

The Wall Street crash doesn't mean that there will be any general or serious business depression... For six years American business has been diverting a substantial part of its attention, its energies and its resources on the speculative game... Now that irrelevant, alien and hazardous adventure is over. Business has come home again, back to its job, providentially unscathed, sound in wind and limb, financially stronger than ever before.

We welcome the interest from PE firms, as we see it as a sign of our progress, and my position is that we should always open the doors to those who want to bring capital to our industry.

Enhanced transparency has helped to reinforce the stability of India's financial system.

Nobody is going to invest in the Italian banks unless they trust their balance sheets.

A good default, like Portugal or Greece, would be very good for the private equity business.

Americans are in a cycle of fear which leads to people not wanting to spend and not wanting to make investments, and that leads to more fear. We'll break out of it. It takes time.

The free market is at its best when everybody works in a fish bowl and tells you their point of view... The hedge funds and portfolio managers have a right to do this... We've muted the analysts and their presence in the system.

We have the deepest and most liquid capital markets in the world.

It's always weird when people approach me to make an investment. I tell them, 'I don't need any more money. I'm good.' Then I wait for their expression. That part is entertaining, because people look at you like you're crazy when you say you don't need any more money. Who says that?

The main consideration with those who, possessing some capital, propose to emigrate as the means of improving their condition, is, the society likely to be found in the land fixed on for their future residence.

Our economy isn't going to recover until the housing market finds its footing.

The financial crisis is a stark reminder that transparency and disclosure are essential in today's marketplace.

Washington should revive international efforts begun during the Clinton administration to pressure countries with dangerously loose banking regulations to adopt and enforce stricter rules.

To get our economy back on track and keep it functioning properly without the problems of our financial institutions, we need reasonable regulations that will protect Main Street while at the same time allow Wall Street to do what it does best - make money for American investors.

I think money is a wonderful thing because it enables you to do things. It enables you to invest in ideas that don't have a short-term payback.

If you think too-big-to-fail banks are not worthy of investment because of their impossible-to-read balance sheets, well then, don't buy them.

With the world changing fast, we needed capital for investments. There's only so much bandwidth in your own balance sheet.

Where are the jobs going to come from? Small business, manufacturing and clean energy. Where's the money to finance them? The banks and the corporations in America today have lots of money that they can invest right now.

Since ours is an economy based on growth through risk-taking, we should provide encouragement not only for saving but for prudent investment of those savings.

This great country cannot be permanently kept in a state of relapse. I believe we will reoccupy the field temporarily lost to us, and go out to the peaceful conquest of new and greater fields of trade and commerce. The recovery will come slowly, perhaps, but it will come, and when it does we will be steadier and will better know how to avoid exposure hereafter.

If the country is to flourish, capital must be invested in enterprise. But those who seek to draw upon other people's money must be wholly candid regarding the facts on which the investor's judgment is asked.

You cannot have fairness unless you have transparency…We don’t know that is going on inside those boxes … we could have a meltdown [in the entire economy].

Although the Fed has subjected banks’ portfolios to stress tests to measure the effect of rising interest rates and investment losses, the results might not have shown the whole picture: U.S. banks, particularly small and medium-sized ones, may not have enough capital to maintain solvency and liquidity should their risky loans and investments fail in large numbers. The same is true of the stress tests that the ECB has performed in Europe,

Actions aimed at supporting deleveraging and balance-sheet repair - such as recognizing losses, writing down assets, and recapitalizing banks - carry longer-term benefits but short-term costs.