by Calculated Risk on 12/09/2019 02:02:00 PM

Former Fed Chair Paul Volcker has passed away. From the NY Times: Paul A. Volcker, Fed Chairman Who Waged War on Inflation, Is Dead at 92

Here are some excerpts from a prescient speech in February 2005: Paul Volcker Feb 2005 Stanford Speech

A few selected excerpts:

"Altogether, the circumstances seem as dangerous and intractable as I can remember."

"Boomers are spending like there is no tomorrow."

"Homeownership has become a vehicle for borrowing and leveraging as much as a source of financial security."

"I come now to the heart of the problem, as a Nation we are consuming and investing, that is spending, about 6% more than we are producing. What holds it all together? - High consumption - high leverage - government deficits - What holds it all together is a really massive and growing flow of capital from abroad. A flow of capital that today runs to more than $2 Billion per day."

"What I'm really talking about boils down to the oldest lesson of financial policy in Central Banking: A strong sense of monetary and fiscal discipline."