“The net effect was to induce a tightening mode in the markets, in bank lending and in total bank reserve growth, while [interest rates] rose significantly, especially for corporate bond issues. In retrospect, that's not looking very smart.”
“The problem is, the private sector doesn't have the balance sheet capacity to take on more debt, and the banking system is not in a position to extend more credit. So monetary policy may not work at all.”
“This economy is not producing jobs in a normal way. We have serious global competitive pressures working on the economy. There continues to be a very rapid increase in productivity, which is undermining demand for labor.”
