Janet Yellen on President Trump's tariffs

I’m afraid I could not give it a passing grade, I’m sorry.  This is the worst self-inflicted wound that I have ever seen an administration impose on a well-functioning economy.  So we had a very well-functioning economy, and President Trump has taken a wrecking ball to it.

~ Janet Yellen, CNN interview, April 11, 2025

Janet Yellen: "our banking system remains sound"

I can reassure the members of the Committee that our banking system remains sound, and that Americans can feel confident that their deposits will be there when they need them.  This week's actions demonstrate our resolute commitment to ensure that depositors' savings remain safe.

Importantly, no taxpayer money is being used or put at risk with this action.  Deposit protection is provided by the Deposit Insurance Fund, which is funded by fees on banks.

~ Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, appearing before Senate Finance Committee, March 16, 2023

Janet Yellen: "You don't have a recession when you have the lowest unemployment rate in more than 50 years"

You don't have a recession when you have 500,000 jobs and the lowest unemployment rate in more than 50 years.  What I see is a path in which inflation is declining significantly and the economy is remaining strong."

~ Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, as appeared on ABC's Good Morning America, February 6, 2023

Janet Yellen on how fiat currencies are different than cryptocurrencies

Stephen Colbert: Does crypto make sense to you, and on this level?  People like Ron Paul would say, after the United States dollar went off of the gold standard, under Nixon, I believe, that we're now a fiat currency.  Things are worth what they're worth because we said that it's worth something.  "It's backed by the full faith and credit of the United States," whatever that particular phrase, that term or art, may mean.  And so, is crypto, where I create a widget that spits out a coin that I declare a value and then that number of those sets a capitalization for all that crypto out there and then people get invested, so that $20 million now, people say, "oh, that's worth $100 million," and all of that is created out of nothing.  Does that make sense to you, because there is no inherent value to the actual item itself?

Janet Yellen: I've been pretty skeptical at the outset about what the value of crypto would be to the real economy.

Colbert: But because the United States has a fiat currency, is the dollar make any more sense to you than crypto does?

Yellen: Yes, the dollar makes a lot of sense to me.

Colbert: Why?

Yellen: Because it's a natonal currency, it's well-regulated by the Federal Reserve, it has a clear mandate and people who are accountable to the public and to Congress to maintain the goals of the Fed, which is maximum employment and low and stable inflation, price stability.

~ Janet Yellen, appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, 6:20 mark, December 1, 2022

Janet Yellen: "There's nothing to suggest that a recession is in the works (2022)

I don't think we're (going to) have a recession.  Consumer spending is very strong.  Investment spending is solid...  I know people are very upset and rightly so about inflation, but there's nothing to suggest that a... recession is in the works.

[...]

I believe there is a path through this that entails a soft landing...  Is there a recession risk?  Of course there's a recession risk.  But is it likely?  I don't think so.

~ Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, New York Times Dealbook event, June 9, 2022

Janet Yellen admits she didn't see inflation coming

I was wrong about the path inflation would take.  There have been unanticipated and large shocks to the economy that have boosted energy and food prices and supply bottlenecks that have affected our economy badly that at the time I didn’t fully understand.

~ Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, "Yellen Says ‘I Was Wrong’ Last Year on the Path of US Inflation," Bloomberg, May 31, 2022

Janet Yellen on the debt ceiling

I can't think of anything more harmful to the role of the U.S. dollar than failing to raise the debt ceiling.

~ Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Congressional testimony, September 28, 2021

Janet Yellen: "inflation expectations look quite well contained"

Measures of inflation expectations, I think, look quite well contained over the medium term.  Those expectations are actually the driver of price-setting behavior.  And so it is important that we monitor it carefully, but I believe fundamentally this is something that will settle down.

~ Janet Yellen, Treasury Secretary, interview with CNBC's Sara Eisen, July 15, 2021

Janet Yellen on fighting inflation (2021)

I've spent many years studying inflation and worrying about inflation.  And I can tell you we have the tools to deal with that risk if it materializes.

~ Janet Yellen, Treasury Secretary, virtually roundtable in Washington, DC, February 5, 2021

Janet Yellen: "The smartest thing we can do is act big"

Right now, with interest rates at historic lows, the smartest thing we can do is act big. I believe the benefits will far outweigh the costs, especially if we care about helping people who have been struggling for a very long time. 

~ Janet Yellen, incoming Treasury Secretary, confirmation hearing, January 18, 2021

Janet Yellen sees no new financial crises "in our lifetimes" (2017)

Would I say there will never, ever be another financial crisis? You know probably that would be going too far but I do think we’re much safer and I hope that it will not be in our lifetimes and I don’t believe it will be.

~ Janet Yellen, "Fed's Yellen expects no new financial crisis in 'our lifetimes'," Reuters, June 27, 2017

Janet Yellen ready to blame the next financial crisis on deregulation

I am worried that we are in a deregulatory mode and I see a lot of pressures building in the system to go further to really weaken fundamental safeguards that were created in Dodd-Frank. We are a decade after the financial crisis so that would be worrisome and wrong to do.

~ Janet Yellen, speech at Women in Housing and Finance holiday event, "Janet Yellen is worried about the next financial crisis," MarketWatch.com, December 13, 2018

Janet Yellen on high levels of corporate debt

You had investors that were reaching for yield and wanted to hold securities that they thought were safe, but that had reasonably high yields. There are a lot of investors in this low interest rate environment who are reaching for yield...  If the economy experiences any kind of negative shock where rates go up more than expected there will be a lot of corporate bankruptcies, a lot of distressed credit crunch a lot of downgrading of loans, a lot of investor losses.

~ Janet Yellen, Q&A after speech at Women in Housing and Finance holiday event, "Janet Yellen is worried about the next financial crisis," MarketWatch.com, December 13, 2018

Donald Trump on Janet Yellen and her low interest rate policy

I like her, I respect her…I do like a low interest rate policy, I must be honest with you.

~ President Donald Trump, interview with The Wall Street Journal, April 12, 2017

Jim Cramer on Janet Yellen: "The Fed wants the common person to make money."

As I listened, I heard a woman who was simply saying, look, the Great Recession is still with us psychologically. We aren't back to normal, because the downturn so scarred people that they aren't behaving as we would hope.  It's clear to me she's worried that the psyche of the country is too fragile...  The trick with the Yellen regime, like the trick with the Ben Bernanke regime before her is to remember that they speak for the common person.  The Fed wants the common person to make money.

~ Jim Cramer, CNBC, September 17, 2014

(Cramer commented on Yellen's press conference remarks after the FOMC meeting.)

Jim Cramer on Janet Yellen looking out for the little guy

She's pro-Main Street!  The Fed hasn't been pro-Main Street in a long time.

~ Jim Cramer, CNBC, July 3, 2014

Janet Yellen: "Waking up less at night" over housing (2007)

I'm waking up less at night than I was [over the slowdown in housing]. So far, there's been remarkably little effect [from housing] on the rest of the economy.

~ Janet Yellen, San Francisco Fed President, MarketWatch, February 21, 2007

(Quote provided by Kevin Depew, "Five Things You Need to Know: Housing Slump Well Contained; Well Contained to Existing Home Sales; Well Contained to Largest Cement Producer in U.S.; Well Contained to Spain; Well Contained to Auto Sales," Minyanville, April 24, 2007)