Robert Parry Quotations

After the chairman, at least in my opinion, Don has had a greater impact on the Fed's monetary policy process than any other single person, ... He was very close to the chairman, and they discussed issues frequently. He and this chairman were really a team.

... the United States, for generations, has sustained two parallel but opposed states of mind about military atrocities and human rights: one of U.S. benevolence, generally held by the public, and the other of ends-justify-the-means brutality sponsored by counterinsurgency specialists. Normally the specialists carry out their actions in remote locations with little notice in the national press. That allows the public to sustain its faith in a just America, while hard-nosed security and economic interests are still protected in secret.

It's risky just to sit back and wait for inflation to show up before we do something, ... One point arguing for monetary restraint is that we seem to have reached a stage where inflation is no longer falling.

It's risky just to sit back and wait for an upward trend in inflation to show up before we do something,

Let's assume inflation averages 1 to 2 percent. Then you could see maybe the natural funds rate would be -- I don't know -- 3.5 percent, something like that,

At the same time, we need to proceed with some caution, because there's a fair bit of uncertainty about the economy's behavior right now,

I don't think it's a good idea to take a lot of cash out of your bank and put it under your mattress. Why? Because the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. does insure up to $100,000 of your money in the bank -- but it doesn't insure your mattress.

He felt very strongly that society should have a social conscience.

It would seem to me he would be more comfortable with a freer exchange of ideas, not coming in 100 percent convinced of what should be done.