Political Quotes

“as I did 4 years ago, I wish to record my emphatic and enthusiastic support for the nomination of the honorable Alan Greenspan to a fourth term as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. He is a national treasure. He has served our Nation with principle and wisdom, and I shall attempt to show in these brief remarks, unprecedented success. Let me cite four principal reasons--updated from four years ago--why he should again be confirmed by the Senate. The economy is now in its 107th month of an expansion--the longest in American history--which shows no sign of ending. The unemployment rate for December was 4.1 percent and has been below 5 percent for almost three years. Not too long ago, economists estimated that the NAIRU, as the acronym was for the nonaccelerating inflation rate of unemployment--what we might call full employment--was about 6 percent. Next, inflation is in check. Measured by the CPI--which economists believe overstates inflation--consumer prices have increased by less than 3 percent per year for the past three years. Finally, the misery index--the sum of the unemployment rate and the inflation rate--is about 7 percent, the lowest level in 30 years. These outcomes are a tribute to Alan Greenspan's stewardship of our Nation's monetary policy for the past 13 years.”