In many spheres of human endeavor, from science to business to education to economic policy, good decisions depend on good measurement.
Given the extent of the exposures of major banks around the world to A.I.G., and in light of the extreme fragility of the system, there was a significant risk that A.I.G.’s failure could have sparked a global banking panic.
In the future, financial firms of any type whose failure would pose a systemic risk must accept especially close regulatory scrutiny of their risk-taking.
The failure of Lehman Brothers demonstrated that liquidity provision by the Federal Reserve would not be sufficient to stop the crisis substantial fiscal resources were necessary.
Clear communication is always important in central banking, but it can be especially important when economic conditions call for further policy stimulus but the policy rate is already at its effective lower bound.
High levels of homeownership have been shown to foster greater involvement in school and civic organizations, higher graduation rates, and greater neighborhood stability.
No economy can succeed without a high-quality workforce, particularly in an age of globalization and technical change.
Community development has a long history of innovation and learning from experience.
Neighborhoods and communities are complex organisms that will be resilient only if they are healthy along a number of interrelated dimensions, much as a human body cannot be healthy without adequate air, water, rest, and food.
The lesson of history is that you do not get a sustained economic recovery as long as the financial system is in crisis.
The more guidance a central bank can provide the public about how policy is likely to evolve the greater the chance that market participants will make appropriate inferences.
People saw the Depression as a necessary thing – a chance to squeeze out the excesses, get back to Puritan morality. That just made things worse.
Economics has many substantive areas of knowledge where there is agreement, but also contains areas of controversy. That’s inescapable.
I am particularly pleased to see that the Bendheim Center for Finance is thriving.
When the economic well-being of their nation demanded a strong and creative response, my colleagues at the Federal Reserve… mustered the moral courage to do what was necessary.
Economic engineering is about the design and analysis of frameworks for achieving specific economic objectives.
As an educator myself, I understand the profound effect that good teachers and a quality education have on the lives of our young people.
Because financially capable consumers ultimately contribute to a stable economic and financial system as well as improve their own financial situations, it’s clear that the Federal Reserve has a significant stake in financial education.
If you’re in a car crash, you’re mostly involved in trying to not go off the bridge, and later on you say, ‘Oh my God!’
It’s the price of success: people start to think you’re omnipotent.