In fact, the world needs more nerds.

Life is amazingly unpredictable; any 22-year-old who thinks they know where they will be in 10 years, much less in 30, is simply lacking imagination.

Importantly, in the 1930s, in the Great Depression, the Federal Reserve, despite its mandate, was quite passive and, as a result, financial crisis became very severe, lasted essentially from 1929 to 1933.

Every effort needs to be made to try and offset the costs of Katrina and Rita by reductions in other government programs, especially those that are wasteful, duplicative and ineffective.

The American people are among the most productive in the world. We have the best technologies. We have - great universities. We have entrepreneurs.

If you want to understand geology, study earthquakes. If you want to understand the economy, study the Depression.

The more important reason is that the research itself provides an important long-run perspective on the issues that we face on a day-to-day basis.