Stronger regulation and supervision aimed at problems with underwriting practices and lenders' risk management would have been a more effective and surgical approach to constraining the housing bubble than a general increase in interest rates.

Many savers are also homeowners; indeed, a family's home may be its most important financial asset. Many savers are working, or would like to be.

When historical relationships are taken into account, it is difficult to ascribe the house price bubble either to monetary policy or to the broader macroeconomic environment.

Ben Bernanke Quotes