In just about every area of society, there's nothing more important than ethics.

My preference is for the Federal Reserve to be the systemic risk regulator, because the responsibility for identifying and limiting potential problems is a natural complement to its role in monetary policy.

I understand how important the automakers are to America. And I understand a bankruptcy; a failure in that industry wouldn't be a good thing. It's something we should avoid.

When you have a big, ugly problem, there's never going to be a neat, elegant solution that is totally painless or without a cost.

It is the policy of the federal government to use all resources at its disposal to make our financial system stronger.

An open, competitive, and liberalized financial market can effectively allocate scarce resources in a manner that promotes stability and prosperity far better than governmental intervention.

In terms of the overall economy, we've got challenges and the big focus has got to be on recovery, on repair, and that's going to take a while.