A nation's exchange rate is the single most important price in its economy it will influence the entire range of individual prices, imports and exports, and even the level of economic activity. So it is hard for any government to ignore large swings in its exchange rate.

I am suspicious of the idea of a new paradigm, to use that word, an entirely new structure of the economy.

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.

A global economy requires a global currency.

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

Double-digit inflation is a terrible thing - and it got up to 14 or 15 percent on a monthly basis for a while, shortly after I became chairman of the Fed.

When people begin anticipating inflation, it doesn't do you any good anymore, because any benefit of inflation comes from the fact that you do better than you thought you were going to do.

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

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