We are inheriting the worst financial system since the Depression. We're inheriting a situation - when people go back and study major banking crises a quarter century from now, the one that America developed in 2007 and 2008 is going to be one of those crises.

The availability of private insurance provides tremendous insulation for millions of individuals.

You can’t have a situation in which companies proceed on a permanent basis relying only on cash from the government.

We are inheriting the worst financial system since the Depression. We’re inheriting a situation – when people go back and study major banking crises a quarter century from now, the one that America developed in 2007 and 2008 is going to be one of those crises.

Where countries have been able to carry through on their reform commitments – as in Korea, Thailand and the Philippines – results are starting to come in the form of lower interest rates, new investment and increased growth.

It certainly was difficult to sell NAFTA because it’s always difficult to sell open markets.

We must recognise that in an integrated world, trade cannot be divorced from other concerns. We need to promote free trade and serious global efforts with respect to common problems even as we support every nation’s right to chart its own course.

It was wrong to allow Stalin to shape the European landscape of the 20th century. It would be even more wrong to let him shape the landscape of the 21st century.

If you look at the history of the American capital market, there’s probably no innovation more important than the idea of generally accepted accountancy principles.

Start with the idea that you can’t repeal the laws of economics. Even if they are inconvenient.