And the maestro surely wielded the chairman’s baton with extraordinary skill. His stellar record suggests that the only right answer to the age-old question of whether it is better to be lucky or good may be: both.

In the classic old business cycle, there would be a diminution in sales; it would take a little while for this information to reach corporate headquarters. And there would be an inventory pileup. And then – bam – businesses would react, sometimes violently, by cutting production.

Life is not a multiple choice test, it’s an open-book essay exam.

'Murphys law of economic policy': Economists have the least influence on policy where they know the most and are most agreed; they have the most influence on policy where they know the least and disagree most vehemently.

The current episode is vastly worse than that; there's only been the slightest bit of a paltry recovery in the labor market.

The employment numbers easily give the Fed reason to pause, but it doesn't necessarily mean they are finished with raising rates. They will want to see more evidence of slowing, both in the employment numbers and in other areas of the economy.

His flexibility, his unwillingness to get stuck in a doctrinal straitjacket that becomes dysfunctional may be his greatest strength.

The Fed is watching with every eye, ear, and nose it has for evidence that oil prices are creeping into core inflation.

The Fed really tried to throw some cold water on those who are saying the recession's over already. The optimists are declaring it over already ... I think there's a good chance they're wrong, and the Fed obviously is predicating policy on the basis that they are wrong.

It's not a lack of transparency when you stop giving information when there is nothing to give, and we're getting pretty close to that point.