Regulation of derivatives transactions that are privately negotiated by professionals is unnecessary.

Well, you probably will always believe there should be laws against fraud, and I don't think there is any need for a law against fraud.

And whatever their publicized angst over Saddam Hussein's 'weapons of mass destruction,' American and British authorities were also concerned about violence in an area that harbors a resource indispensable for the functioning of the word economy. I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.

I've always argued that this country has benefited immensely from the fact that we draw people from all over the world.

Look, I'm very much in favor of tax cuts, but not with borrowed money. And the problem that we've gotten into in recent years is spending programs with borrowed money, tax cuts with borrowed money, and at the end of the day that proves disastrous. And my view is I don't think we can play subtle policy here.

How do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values?

The need for values is inbred. Their content is not.