The key problem is the debt restructuring in the euro zone. As long as the debt burden is not reduced, there is no chance of the weaker EU countries regaining competitiveness.

I very often used to get backaches due to the fact that I was wrong. Whenever you are wrong you have to fight or [take] flight. When [I] make the decision, the backache goes away.

Sometimes time actually works against you if you refuse to face the relevant issues and explain to the public what is at stake.

The securitisation of mortgages added a new dimension of systemic risk. Financial engineers claimed they were reducing risks through geographic diversification: in fact they were increasing them by creating an agency problem. The agents were more interested in maximising fee income than in protecting the interests of bondholders. That is the verity that was ignored by regulators and market participants alike.

Changeless society is characterized by the absense of alternatives.

The concept of a general equilibrium has no relevance to the real world (in other words, classical economics is an exercise in futility).

I'm only rich because I know when I'm wrong...I basically have survived by recognizing my mistakes.