It was probably a mistake to allow gold to rise so high.

It is a sobering fact that the prominence of central banks in this century has coincided with a general tendency towards more inflation, not less. [I]f the overriding objective is price stability, we did better with the nineteenth-century gold standard and passive central banks, with currency boards, or even with 'free banking.' The truly unique power of a central bank, after all, is the power to create money, and ultimately the power to create is the power to destroy.

I wish someone would give me one shred of neutral evidence that financial innovation has led to economic growth — one shred of evidence.

It was probably a mistake to allow gold to rise so high.

The only thing useful banks have invented in 20 years is the ATM.

That day the U.S. announced that the dollar would be devalued by 10 percent. By switching the yen to a floating exchange rate, the Japanese currency appreciated, and a sufficient realignment in exchange rates was realized. Joint intervention in gold sales to prevent a steep rise in the price of gold, however, was not undertaken. That was a mistake.

If, at the end of the day, we need to raise taxes, we should raise taxes.