Banking Quotes

“The conventional commercial bank is not supposed to be a lender of first resort, but of last resort.”

“We have to have a savings and loan industry that is sound and safe and that can go about its business of making home loans.”

“The independence of the central bank is a cornerstone of a modern, stable economy.”

“Capital is the buffer that protects the taxpayer from the mistakes of the banker.”

“The central bank must be independent, but not isolated.”

“Financial crises are not driven by the stars, but by the incentives of bankers.”

“The idea that you can create a failsafe banking system is a fantasy.”

“The best way to deal with 'too big to fail' is to make sure that no institution is too big to fail.”

“The bank is, so to speak, the general manager of the money capitalists.”

“These credit default swaps are casino-style wagers that have no place on the balance sheets of federally insured banks.”

“The central question is not whether banks should be regulated, but how.”

“I am for the Federal Reserve System, and I am not for its prostitution.”

“The banking crisis was an epic failure of regulation and of the banks themselves.”

“My agency in procuring the passage of the national banking law was the greatest financial mistake of my life.”

“The process by which banks create money is so simple that the mind is repelled.”

“The system of banking we have both equally and ever reprobated. I contemplate it as a blot left in all our Constitutions, which, if not covered, will end in their destruction.”

“The prime purpose of the bank is to make money for its stockholders.”

“An ever-increasing proportion of the capital of industry does not belong to the industrialists who employ it.”

“The national banking system has proved to be a great success.”

“My agency in promoting the passage of the National Bank Act was the greatest financial mistake of my life.”