Notably Quotable: Capitalism, Failure and the Economy

"Capitalism without failure
is like religion without sin."

— Economist Allan Meltzer

"Most financial history is useless at this point.
Even well-known economists grasp for examples of periods that are comparable to current conditions."

— Douglas McIntyre in Time Magazine

"Close them down, get them out of business.
If they’re dead, they ought to be buried.
We bury the small banks. We’ve got to bury
some big ones and send a strong message
to the market."

— Senator Richard Shelby, ranking Republican on the Banking Committee

"I cannot stress enough that right now, if you are not looking to your brand to guide you through this difficult time and use that brand to demonstrate its value in real and tangible ways, you will be sorry."

— Paul Stull, SVP/Arizona State Credit Union

"If you want banks to be the workhorses
here, you can’t keep beating the horse."

— Wayne Abernathy, Executive Director/ABA

"If an institution has become so large that there
is no alternative except for the taxpayers to
provide support, should we allow so many
institutions to exceed that kind of threshold?"

— Sheila Bair, FDIC Chairman

"If my check is returned marked ‘insufficient funds’
does it refer to me or to my bank?"

— The "Bob And Sheri" morning show

"Financial policy makers have enacted numerous programs and committed trillions of dollars of public funds to address the crisis. And still the problems remain. We have yet to restore confidence and transparency to the financial markets, leaving lenders and investors wary."

— Thomas Hoenig, President/Federal Reserve of Kansas City