Henry Paulson's Quotes

From the beginning of time, we've had financial crises. People always blame the banks and for good reason. When you look for the root causes, they're almost always failed government policies.

I always told people in the private sector, 'You can be the smartest person in the world, you can have the very best ideas, but if you can't sell them and you can't get other people to work with you, you're not going to succeed.'

I have always tried to live by the philosophy that when there is a big problem that needs fixing, you should run towards it, rather than away from it.

I've been through periods of stress, turbulence in the market for over the course of my career, various times, and never in any of those other periods have we had the advantage of a strong economy underpinning the markets.

In the past, if a homeowner with a mortgage had a problem making the payment, often he'd get together with a lender and strike a deal, because foreclosures are very expensive to the lender and obviously not good for the homeowner and the community.

India is a vibrant nation whose strength lies in its commitment to equal rights and to speech, religious and economic freedoms that enrich the lives of all citizens. India is not only the world's largest democracy; it is also a secular, pluralistic society committed to inclusive growth.

India is one of the world's largest and most peaceful states with advanced nuclear technologies and has been isolated from the rest of the world on nuclear issues.

My preference is for the Federal Reserve to be the systemic risk regulator, because the responsibility for identifying and limiting potential problems is a natural complement to its role in monetary policy.

Payment systems are critically important for overall market stability. On a typical business day, U.S. payment and settlement systems settle transactions valued at over $13 trillion.

The most pressing and significant problems in the global economy are unsustainable structural issues with regard to the E.U. - fiscal deficits and the structure of the E.U. itself.

The U.S. and China need to take steps - mostly individually, sometimes together - that will have the mutually beneficial effect of supporting and sustaining economic growth.

U.S. exports to China have more than quintupled since China entered the WTO and have grown more quickly than imports. In fact, China is America's fastest-growing export market.

When our markets work, people throughout our economy benefit - Americans seeking to buy a car or buy a home, families borrowing to pay for college, innovators borrowing on the strength of a good idea for a new product or technology, and businesses financing investments that create new jobs.

A Fed loan to Lehman Brothers would not have prevented a bankruptcy.

Anticompetitive practices hurt Chinese private firms nearly as much as foreign ones.

As a Christian Scientist, I don't go to doctors and get diagnoses.

Buying a home today is a complex process, but that in no way excuses home buyers from their obligation for due diligence.

China and the U.S. are the two largest importers of oil. They are the two largest emitters of carbon.

China needs a currency that reflects underlying economic fundamentals.

China saves too much, produces too much, sells too much to Americans and consumes too little.

Economic growth and environmental protection are not at odds. They're opposite sides of the same coin if you're looking at longer-term prosperity.

Every global concern - economic, environmental or security-related - can be addressed more effectively when the U.S. and China work together.

I didn't get the charm gene.

I have relied on prayer for health care all of my life.

I never once considered that it was appropriate to put taxpayer money on the line in resolving Lehman Brothers.

I think all governments engage in intelligence gathering vis-a-vis other governments.

I'm a straightforward person. I like to be direct with people.

I'm telling you that there is no silver bullet to keep home prices from going down or to prevent all foreclosures.

I've always said, 'I don't want to be irrelevant.'

I've never been antiregulation. I've always believed that raw, unregulated capitalism doesn't work.

If the financial system collapses, it's really, really hard to put it back together again.

If you've got a bazooka, and people know you've got it, you may not have to take it out.

Illiquid asset purchases are all about capital and encouraging private capital to come in.

In China, export lobbies have fought for policies that favor their interests and limit foreign competition.

In just about every area of society, there's nothing more important than ethics.

It is the policy of the federal government to use all resources at its disposal to make our financial system stronger.

Many of the Western democracies - including the U.S. - have a problem that voters want benefits they don't want to pay for.

Non-bank financial institutions provide credit that is essential to U.S. businesses and consumers.