The payoff to early childhood programs can be especially high.

What I need to emphasize here is that that does not mean that QE will continue until 2017 or easy money will continue until 2017.

We have rejected that approach and we are committed to not letting inflation go above sort of the normal level of around 2 percent in the medium term.

I do not agree with the view that this is likely to lead to another crisis.

the need to think about the budget issue not as a current year issue

Obviously, as Senator Shelby has pointed out, it is important for us to get back to a more normal size of our balance sheet.

We have never had a failure to raise the debt limit. We have had a number of Government shutdowns and they have created problems, but they have not been as destructive as a debt limit failure would be.

It sounds like the conclusion of your argument is that taxes should be zero and I would not argue that.

If you do not do that, it would have very negative effects on financial markets and on our economy.

I hope there will be an open mind and that there will be discussion of all options, including reforms of the tax code, including restructuring of spending and the like, yes.

I do not believe that there is a dangerous bubble in U.S. financial markets.

If it became clear that these problems were not going to be adequately addressed because we were just in a perpetual gridlock, I think that would raise significant concerns and would risk bringing these problems forward into the present.

It would be a good thing if that came back.

I can say that, yes.

It is something, Senator, that we pay a great deal of attention to.

the sooner that a long-term plan is put in place to make significant and credible reductions in the path of the deficit, the better it will be.

It would be an extremely dangerous and very likely recovery-ending event.

Yes, except in the worst economic conditions.

The recession was tied primarily to the financial crisis, which drove the economy into a deep recession.

I think that supervisors will be paying more attention to this in the future and we should pay more attention to it.

the long-term imbalances are not just a long-term risk. They are a near and present danger.

It is a substantial improvement.

We want to be sure that price stability is maintained, that inflation remains low and stable.

I think it is extremely important that you address this issue.

I am pleased to present the Federal Reserve's Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress.