Charles L. Evans Quotes

I'm just opposed to a pure inflation-only mandate in which the only thing a central bank cares about is inflation and not employment.

Bernanke and company are trying to reflate the economy with almost stated objective of inflation at 2 percent and higher in order to provide some type of safety margin for a future recession. That's where they want to go.

The government will always tell you that it wants low inflation. The real issue is the horizon over which to bring inflation down.

It was gradually learned that acceptance of a somewhat higher inflation rate would not really bring somewhat higher employment.

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

The central focus of what we are doing at the Fed is to keep inflation from accelerating - and preferably decelerating.

Our purpose is to lean against the winds of deflation or inflation, whichever way they are blowing.

Whip Inflation Now

At the end of the day, inflation has been below 2% for quite a long time, and to me, symmetry means getting somewhere above 2% inflation at some point in my Fed career.

The only way to ensure that inflation expectations remain safely anchored near the FOMC's target is to keep inflation close to that target on a consistent basis.

Growth is always there in the MPC's scheme of things; we don't lose sight of that, but not at the cost of inflation.

No one thinks of controlling inflation of a continental-sized country by holding back municipal tariffs. Macroeconomic stability cannot be achieved through microeconomic intervention.

However, in spite of the general perception that monetary policy should be conducted so as to avert deflation, a central bank cannot lower interest rates below the zero lower bound.

The Fed is totally open.

The president has very little effect on the economy. If you want to put blame or credit, the main person who influences the business cycle is the head of the Federal Reserve Bank.

The Fed needs an approach that consolidates the gains of the Greenspan years and ensures that those successful policies will continue - even if future Fed chairmen are less skillful or less committed to price stability than Mr. Greenspan has been.

It's true that the Federal Reserve faces a lot of political pressure and is unpopular in many circles.

I think the Fed is not designed to have effective tools to deal with the economy. It should settle for just controlling the money supply. And - if it insists, it can worry about inflation.

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.

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

There is always the potential for a central bank to engage in discretionary monetary policy and to break the one-to-one link between changes in foreign reserves and changes in the money supply.

You have to change people’s minds to stop inflation.

Monetary policy and fiscal policy are inseparable.

The Fed [Federal Reserve System], whether it likes it or not, is required to provide adequate reserves to the banking system in order for the government to finance its needs, even when that is inflationary.

The country needed someone credible to fight inflation and Volker was the man for the job…. He understood that the government had to establish credibility in order to give policy makers flexibility when they needed it.