Ben Bernanke

Fiscal policy is of critical importance, as I have noted today, but a wide range of other policies--pertaining to labor markets, housing, trade, taxation, and regulation, for example--also have important roles to play.

Fostering healthy job growth and job creation--economic growth and job creation is a shared responsibility of all economic policymakers in close cooperation with the private sector.

Monetary policy can be a powerful tool, but it is not a panacea for the problems currently facing the U.S. economy.

We should continue to press for a more flexible exchange rate.

Good for the Chinese to allow more flexibility in their exchange rate.

Most economists agree that the Chinese currency is undervalued and has been used to promote a more export-oriented economy.

I disagree. With so many Americans out of work, and with GDP growth having slowed to less than half of one percent annual rate in the first half of this year, additional actions are needed to strengthen the economy.

There is ample room for debate about the appropriate size and role for the government in the longer term, but--in the absence of adequate demand from the private sector--a substantial fiscal consolidation in the shorter term could add to…

Along the lines that Simpson-Bowles talked about.

Since the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Federal Reserve, both independently and in conjunction with other agencies, has made considerable progress toward adopting regulations designed to promote financial market stability…

In order to get rid of too-big-to-fail, we have to have 'fail.' We have to have a way for the biggest firms actually to fail.

The main issues here are that we are going to have much tighter oversight and prudential regulations over so-called SIFIs.

If those margin rules for foreign operations are maintained and Europeans and other foreign jurisdictions do not match it, that would be a significant competitive disadvantage.

You need more people to carry out more regulations, write more regulations, and to do just in general a better job of overseeing private sector activity.

So this is a matter of arithmetic. Fairly soon after that date there would have to be significant cuts in Social Security, Medicare, military pay, or some combination of those in order to avoid borrowing more money.

So just as a matter of arithmetic, fairly soon after that date there would have to be significant cuts in Social Security, Medicare, military pay or some combination of those in order to avoid borrowing more money.

The current fiscal situation of the United States is not sustainable.

Extended unemployment insurance benefits provided during the economic downturn have fostered economic stability.

I think it would, but as Senator Corker pointed out, or Senator Vitter, the other part of this is we also want to make substantial progress on the long-term fiscal situation.

Senator, you are absolutely right.

The Federal Reserve together with other agencies has imposed an order on the servicers to fix up their act and to go back and look at every foreclosure going back for some number of years and to compensate anybody who was injured by their…

I agree with your characterization. It is just very poor business, very poor practices in terms of making sure that consumers were contacted, that they were appropriately treated, that all the legalities were observed, et cetera.

I think it is really a political issue as much as an economic issue.

Well, my first best is that the debt limit gets increased promptly and that we have a real solution for our longer-term fiscal problems.

We need to do something big, strong.