Rick Perlstein Quotes

I think the Fed is not designed to have effective tools to deal with the economy. It should settle for just controlling the money supply. And - if it insists, it can worry about inflation.

By the time I became chairman and there was more of a feeling of urgency, there was a willingness to accept more forceful measures to try to deal with the inflation.

The Fed has the ability to put money out, it's got the ability to take money back in, and if they don't do that, we will have hyperinflation worse than we had in 1980 and 1981.

For the first time the committee [Federal Reserve] was using communication — mere words — as its primary monetary policy tool.

Once an economy reaches a certain level of acceleration... the Fed is no longer with you... The Fed, instead of trying to get the economy moving, reverts to acting like the central bankers they are and starts worrying about inflation and things getting too hot.

The Fed is totally open.

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

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

It's pointless to talk to Fed members about economics because they are academics who believe in money-printing. Some of them believe they didn't print enough, and so with these kinds of people, it is like running to the pope. What do you want to tell them?

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

Whip Inflation Now

It's appropriate for the Fed to gradually and cautiously increase our overnight interest rate over time.

I believe that the history of Fed policymaking is that, you know, there are times when we need to raise rates.

Growth is always there in the MPC's scheme of things; we don't lose sight of that, but not at the cost of inflation.

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.

The Fed's ability to raise and lower short-term interest rates is its primary control over the economy.

We pay some price when necessary to bring down inflation but that price is temporary and is not large relative to the permanent gain from reduced inflation.

The president has very little effect on the economy. If you want to put blame or credit, the main person who influences the business cycle is the head of the Federal Reserve Bank.

We believe that the Federal Reserve has to carry on with a progressive increase in interest rates as a consequence of the American economy.

After the 1929 crash, the Federal Reserve mistakenly focused its policies on preserving the gold value of the dollar rather than on stabilizing the domestic economy.

Should that worse scenario materialize, then most probably our propensity to increase interest rates will be weaker.

In the 1960s, and stretching back to the 1930s, it was felt by many economists that easy money is a reliable way to increase employment.

Bernanke and company are trying to reflate the economy with almost stated objective of inflation at 2 percent and higher in order to provide some type of safety margin for a future recession. That's where they want to go.

The Fed is the biggest enemy of this economy. In fact, Ben Bernanke, as far as I'm concerned, he's public enemy No. 1. We're never going to have a recovery while this guy's in charge.

It's true that the Federal Reserve faces a lot of political pressure and is unpopular in many circles.