Quotessence
Home / Authors / Paul Volcker Books
Paul Volcker

Paul Volcker Books

Economist

Related Quotes

“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.”

ImportantHardGovernmentIndividualNationsLevelsEconomyInfluenceEconomicActivityRateInvestingRangeSwingsImports
Book:Changing fortunes: the world's money and the threat to American leadership
Create image

“The idea that when people see prices falling they will stop buying those cheaper goods or cheaper food does not make much sense. And aiming for 2 percent inflation every year means that after a decade prices are more than 25 percent higher and the price level doubles every generation. That is not price stability, yet they call it price stability. I just do not understand central banks wanting a little inflation.”

PeopleYearsMeanLittlesDoeIdeasFallLevelsGenerationsHigherPercentDecadesBuyingGoodsStabilityInflationCheaperCentral BanksPrice Stability
Author:Paul Volcker
Create image

“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.”

Would BeMistakePercentGoldDollarsRateSufficientCurrencyFloatingAppreciatedInterventionJointsSteepSwitching
Author:Paul Volcker
Create image

“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.”

FactsCenturyUniqueStandardsGoldObjectivesTendenciesBoardsStabilityCurrencyPassiveBankingInflationNineteenth CenturyCentral BanksGold StandardProminencePrice Stability
Author:Paul Volcker
Create image