In America, you keep on hearing productivity is low; secular stagnation, it's a new normal. It's just not true: We've had multiple wars; we're not educating our kids. We had government shut downs, badly-spent money, failures in the health system, failures and an extreme amount of regulation - that's why we're going slow.
Unraveling the euro is a terrible thing. This is a 50-year endeavor to get this continent together and that's a wonderful endeavor.
I have gotten disturbed at... some of the Democrats' anti-business behavior, the sentiment, the attacks on work ethic and successful people. I think it's very counter-productive.
Abraham Lincoln never denigrated, never scapegoated, never finger-pointed. And he had reason to.
It is true that too many people are not getting a fair opportunity to get ahead. We must find ways to help them move up the economic ladder, and everyone - business, government, and nonprofits - needs to play a role.
In America, we have a two-party system, and the American Constitution is a piece of brilliance, but they did not know when they set it up we would just have a two-party system. It just so happens that our electorate pushed towards the two-party system because it's a very good way to govern.
I'm a little bit of an eternal optimist. People always say to me, 'If you go do this and it fails, what are you going to do?' I don't care. I'm going to give it my best shot. That's what I'm going to do. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. And I'll try again.
The government has the right to change laws and rules and regulations.
All businesses tend to pass costs onto customers.
You cannot prove this in real time, but when economists 20 years from now write a book on the recovery, it may well be entitled, 'It could have been much better.'
I am struck that so many of our leaders in the U.S. forget how strong our country can be.
If the economy grows, housing gets better, quicker.
You read constantly that banks are lobbying regulators and elected officials as if this is inappropriate. We don't look at it that way.
It is vital for officials and regulators to have input from people within our businesses who understand the intricacies of how financial markets operate and the consequences of certain policy decisions.
While legislation obviously is political, we now have allowed regulation to become politicized, which we believe will likely lead to some bad outcomes.
You can design a mortgage system that is different without a Fannie and Freddie, but there are principles you have to have, to have a good system.
If the government wants to do social policy, it should not be done in a quasi-public company. If you have a mortgage guarantee company which is done by the U.S. government, it should be guaranteed by the originators, i.e., the shareholder.
If business doesn't thrive, it hurts America. We need improved relations, more collaboration, more thought and more consistency as we go about trying to make sure we have the best country in the world. Not scapegoating and finger-pointing.
The term 'too big to fail' must be excised from our vocabulary.
Scale can create value for shareholders; for consumers, who are beneficiaries of better products, delivered more quickly and at less cost; for the businesses that are our customers; and for the economy as a whole.
