Janet Yellen Quotes

It certainly would be helpful going forward for deficit reduction efforts to focus on the medium term while not subtracting from the impetus we need to keep a fragile economy moving forward.

Beyond monetary policy, fiscal policy has traditionally played an important role in dealing with severe economic downturns.

Sometimes you have to make decisions without knowing all that you would like to know That’s part of the job.

We need to increase the transparency of shadow banking markets so that authorities can monitor for signs of excessive leverage and unstable maturity transformation outside regulated banks.

I felt that the Fed had always been the agency that picked up the pieces when there was a financial crisis, and it was invented to do exactly that.

Models used to describe and predict inflation commonly distinguish between changes in food and energy prices – which enter into total inflation – and movements in the prices of other goods and services – that is, core inflation.

The Federal Reserve‘s monetary policy objective is to foster maximum employment and price stability. In this regard, a key challenge is to assess just how far the economy now stands from the attainment of its maximum employment goal.

Financial market participants appear to recognize the FOMC’s data-dependent approach because incoming data surprises typically induce changes in market expectations about the likely future path of policy, resulting in movements in bond yields that act to buffer the economy from shocks.

A crucial responsibility of any central bank is to control inflation, the average rate of increase in the prices of a broad group of goods and services.

To me, the greatest asset of the Fed is the people. We have a tremendously dedicated staff… They feel proud to work for the Fed because this is such a competent, professional and well-respected organization.

The outlook for the economy, as always, is highly uncertain.

There is always some chance of recession in any year. But the evidence suggests that expansions don’t die of old age.

Will capitalist economies operate at full employment in the absence of routine intervention? Certainly not. Are deviations from full employment a social problem? Obviously.

U.S. economic activity continues to expand, led by solid growth in household spending. But business investment remains soft, and subdued foreign demand and the appreciation of the dollar since mid-2014 continue to restrain exports.

At the federal level, the fiscal stimulus of 2008 and 2009 supported economic output, but the effects of that stimulus faded; by 2011, federal fiscal policy actions became a drag on output growth when the recovery was still weak.

We need to keep in mind the well-established fact that the full effects of monetary policy are felt only after long lags. This means that policy makers cannot wait until they have achieved their objectives to begin adjusting policy.

We will watch very carefully what is happening in the economy and adjust policies appropriate.

Maturity transformation is a central part of the economic function of banks and many other types of financial intermediaries.

Long-term unemployment can make any worker progressively less employable, even after the economy strengthens.

Housing wealth – the net equity held by households, consisting of the value of their homes minus their mortgage debt – is the most important source of wealth for all but those at the very top.

Monetary policy ultimately must be conducted in a pragmatic manner that relies not on any particular indicator or model but, instead, reflects an ongoing assessment of a wide range of information in the context of our ever-evolving understanding of the economy.

Our ability to predict how the federal funds rate will evolve over time is quite limited because monetary policy will need to respond to whatever disturbances may buffet the economy.

Monetary policy will, as always, respond to the economy’s twists and turns so as to promote, as best as we can in an uncertain economic environment, the employment and inflation goals.

Although most Americans apparently loathe inflation, Yale economists have argued that a little inflation may be necessary to grease the wheels of the labor market and enable efficiency-enhancing changes in relative pay to occur without requiring nominal wage cuts by workers.

A U.K. vote to exit the European Union could have significant economic repercussions.

Strapped by tight credit and plummeting sales, businesses have overhauled the way they manage supply chains, inventory, production practices and staffing.

The financial crisis and the Great Recession demonstrated, in a dramatic and unmistakable manner, how extraordinarily vulnerable are the large share of American families with very few assets to fall back on. We have come far from the worst moments of the crisis, and the economy continues to improve.

It’s pretty rare to just talk to people who are having a tough time in the economy, to hear their individual stories.

Although we work through financial markets, our goal is to help Main Street, not Wall Street.

A pickup in demand in many advanced economies and a stabilization in commodity prices should, in turn, boost the growth prospects of emerging market economies.

Over a long period of time, technological change is something that has been important in reducing manufacturing employment – absolutely and as a share of jobs in the economy.

I don’t feel that I’ve faced discrimination. I’ve had every chance to succeed and more, and I think that’s what all women should have.

People stop buying things, and that is how you turn a slowdown into a recession.

It seems to me that women have made an awful lot of progress, but they probably remain underrepresented at the highest levels of most organizations, for a variety of reasons. And it’s probably going to take a long time to change that.

Household spending growth has been particularly solid in 2015, with purchases of new motor vehicles especially strong. Job growth has bolstered household income, and lower energy prices have left consumers with more to spend on other goods and services.

The Federal Reserve ranks among the most transparent central banks. We publish a summary of our balance sheet every week. Our financial statements are audited annually by an outside auditor and made public. Every security we hold is listed on the website of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

My bottom line is that monetary policy should react to rising prices for houses or other assets only insofar as they affect the central bank’s goal variables – output, employment, and inflation.

To me, a wise and humane policy is occasionally to let inflation rise even when inflation is running above target.

In the long run, outsourcing is another form of trade that benefits the U.S. economy by giving us cheaper ways to do things.

Food and energy account for a significant portion of household budgets, so the Federal Reserve’s inflation objective is defined in terms of the overall change in consumer prices.

Firms are not always willing to cut wages, even if there are people lined up outside the gates to work. So why don’t they?

Stronger productivity growth would tend to raise the average level of interest rates and, therefore, would provide the Federal Reserve with greater scope to ease monetary policy in the event of a recession.

We are focused on Main Street, on supporting economic conditions – plentiful jobs and stable prices – that help all Americans.

In my junior year, I studied geology on Saturday mornings at the Museum of Natural History. Mineralogy has always been a major interest.

We have put in place policies through supervision and regulation that has greatly enhanced the safety and soundness of the banking system.

I’ve been collecting rocks since I was 8 and have over 200 different specimens.

Nationally, the share of mortgages that are underwater fell by about one-half between 2011 and 2014.

When you hire a nanny, the question you ask yourself is, ‘What’s best for my precious child?’ And do you really want someone who feels that your motive in life is to minimize the amount you spend on your child?

In government institutions and in teaching, you need to inspire confidence. To achieve credibility, you have to very clearly explain what you are doing and why. The same principles apply to businesses.

Labor force participation peaked in early 2000, so its decline began well before the Great Recession. A portion of that decline clearly relates to the aging of the baby boom generation. But the pace of decline accelerated with the recession.

My parents were born in 1906 and 1907. I think the experience of the Depression greatly influenced the way they thought about the world.

We’re charged by Congress with regulating financial institutions. We take that mission seriously. We are tough supervisors and regulators.

I want to be completely clear that I strongly oppose ‘Audit the Fed.’

I will be the first to say that it is always difficult to get monetary policy just right. But the Fed’s analytical prowess is top-notch, and our forecasting record is second to none.

Increased business sales would almost certainly raise the productive capacity of the economy by encouraging additional capital spending, especially if accompanied by reduced uncertainty about future prospects.

When you’re unemployed for six months or a year, it is hard to qualify for a lease, so even the option of relocating to find a job is often off the table.

I am anxious to fix welfare. There has to be more training and child care.

I am strongly committed to pursuing the dual goals that Congress has assigned us: maximum employment and price stability.

Productivity depends on many factors, including our workforce‘s knowledge and skills and the quantity and quality of the capital, technology, and infrastructure that they have to work with.

My advice would be, as you consider fiscal policies, to keep in mind and look carefully at the impact those policies are likely to have on the economy’s productive capacity, on productivity growth, and to the maximum extent possible, choose policies that would improve that long-run growth and productivity outlook.

New policy tools, which helped the Federal Reserve respond to the financial crisis and Great Recession, are likely to remain useful in dealing with future downturns.

If there is a job that you feel passionate about, do what you can to pursue that job; if there is a purpose about which you are passionate, dedicate yourself to that purpose.

I studied piano for seven years and play for my own enjoyment.

In 2006, the Congress had approved plans to allow the Fed, beginning in 2011, to pay interest on banks’ reserve balances. In the fall of 2008, the Congress moved up the effective date of this authority to October 2008.

The pace of increases in labor compensation provides another possible indicator, albeit an imperfect one, of the degree of labor market slack.

Some degree of inequality in income and wealth, of course, would occur even with completely equal opportunity because variations in effort, skill, and luck will produce variations in outcomes.

When I was very young, my father had an accident. He fell down a flight of stairs, fractured his skull, and lost sight in one eye.

The extent of and continuing increase in inequality in the United States greatly concern me.

Many financial innovations such as the increased availability of low-cost mutual funds have improved opportunities for households to participate in asset markets and diversify their holdings.

It’s extremely important for our banks to have more capital, higher quality capital.

The trust institutions have in the marketplace, the confidence customers and suppliers and workers and employees have, are very important to a business’s effectiveness.

The financial sector is vital to the economy. A well-functioning financial sector promotes job creation, innovation, and inclusive economic growth.

Starting in late 2007, faced with acute financial market distress, the Federal Reserve created programs to keep credit flowing to households and businesses. The loans extended under those programs helped stabilize the financial system.

Audit the Fed is a bill that would politicize monetary policy, would bring short-term political pressures to bear on the Fed. In terms of openness about our financial accounts, we are extensively audited.

Because food and energy prices are volatile, it is often helpful to look at inflation excluding those two categories – known as core inflation – which is typically a better indicator of future overall inflation than recent readings of headline inflation.

Social safety-net spending is an important form of public funding that helps offset disparities in family resources for children.

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

While admirers of capitalism, we also to a certain extent believe it has limitations that require government intervention in markets to make them work.

There were a lot of manufacturing jobs lost over a long period of time and particularly after – during the Great Recession. We’ve had some recovery in manufacturing employment as the economy’s recovered.

During the 1970s, inflation expectations rose markedly because the Federal Reserve allowed actual inflation to ratchet up persistently in response to economic disruptions – a development that made it more difficult to stabilize both inflation and employment.

An important factor influencing intergenerational mobility and trends in inequality over time is economic opportunity.

It slightly worries me that when people find a problem, they rush to judgment of what to do.

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

A clear lesson of history is that a ‘sine qua non’ for sustained economic recovery following a financial crisis is a thoroughgoing repair of the financial system.

As always, it would be important to ensure that any fiscal policy changes did not compromise long-run fiscal sustainability.

As a general principle, the American people would be well served by the active pursuit of effective policies to support longer-run growth in productivity.

It’s important for market participants to have a sense of how we think about the economy and the appropriate path of policy, to look at incoming data, and to form their own judgments as to whether or not changes in policy would be appropriate.

Individuals out of work for an extended period can become less employable as they lose the specific skills acquired in their previous jobs and also lose the habits needed to hold down any job.