Economics is a very difficult subject. I've compared it to trying to learn how to repair a car when the engine is running.

Economics is a highly sophisticated field of thought that is superb at explaining to policymakers precisely why the choices they made in the past were wrong. About the future, not so much.

Although low inflation is generally good, inflation that is too low can pose risks to the economy - especially when the economy is struggling.

The economist John Maynard Keynes said that in the long run, we are all dead. If he were around today he might say that, in the long run, we are all on Social Security and Medicare.

If I am confirmed, I am confident that my colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee and I will maintain the focus on long-term price stability as monetary policy's greatest contribution to general economic prosperity and maximum employment.

It takes about two and a half percent growth just to keep unemployment stable.

The benefit of appointing a hawkish central banker is the increased inflation-fighting credibility that such an appointment brings.