Following an extended boom in housing, the demand for homes began to weaken in mid-2005. By the middle of 2006, sales of both new and existing homes had fallen about 15 percent below their peak levels. Homebuilders responded to the fall in demand by sharply curtailing construction.

Growth in U.S. real imports slowed to about 3 percent in 2006, in part reflecting a drop in real terms in imports of crude oil and petroleum products.

Rents should begin to decelerate as the demand for owner-occupied housing stabilizes and the supply of rental units increases.

To be sure, faster growth in nominal labor compensation does not necessarily portend higher inflation.

Since World War II, inflation - the apparently inexorable rise in the prices of goods and services - has been the bane of central bankers.

Deflation is defined as a general decline in prices, with emphasis on the word 'general.'

Sector-specific price declines, uncomfortable as they may be for producers in that sector, are generally not a problem for the economy as a whole and do not constitute deflation.

The failure of Lehman Brothers demonstrated that liquidity provision by the Federal Reserve would not be sufficient to stop the crisis; substantial fiscal resources were necessary.

To be sure, the provision of liquidity alone can by no means solve the problems of credit risk and credit losses; but it can reduce liquidity premiums, help restore the confidence of investors, and thus promote stability.

Among other objectives, liquidity guidelines must take into account the risks that inadequate liquidity planning by major financial firms pose for the broader financial system, and they must ensure that these firms do not become excessively reliant on liquidity support from the central bank.

The role of liquidity in systemic events provides yet another reason why, in the future, a more system wide or macroprudential approach to regulation is needed.

Long-term unemployment is particularly costly to those directly affected, of course. But in addition, because of its negative effects on workers' skills and attachment to the labor force, long-term unemployment may ultimately reduce the productive capacity of our economy.

In any given month, a large number of workers are being hired or are leaving their current jobs, illustrating the dynamism of the U.S. labor market.

Because a person has to be either working or looking for work to be counted as part of the labor force, an increase in the number of people too discouraged to continue their search for work would reduce the unemployment rate, all else being equal - but not for a positive reason.

The children of the unemployed achieve less in school and appear to have reduced long-term earnings prospects.

For many of us, owning a home signaled a passage into adulthood that coincided with the start of a career and family.

High levels of homeownership have been shown to foster greater involvement in school and civic organizations, higher graduation rates, and greater neighborhood stability.

Home purchases that are very highly leveraged or unaffordable subject the borrower and lender to a great deal of risk. Moreover, even in a strong economy, unforeseen life events and risks in local real estate markets make highly leveraged borrowers vulnerable.

Now that I'm a civilian again, I can once more comment on economic and financial issues without my words being put under the microscope by Fed watchers.

Certainly, 9 percent unemployment and very slow growth is not a good situation.

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.

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.

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.

Only a strong economy can create higher asset values and sustainably good returns for savers.

The Federal Reserve Act requires the Federal Reserve to report annually on its operations and to publish its balance sheet weekly.

The Fed's policy choices can always be debated, but the quality and commitment of the Federal Reserve as a public institution is second to none, and I am proud to lead it.

You should never meet your heroes.

We need a Moneyball revolution in the NFL. We need Spread teams and Run and Shoot teams and Option teams.

I've rooted all my life for a marginal team.

If your team is good, you watch all the games - but if they're no fun to watch? You have a plethora of options. Just switch to Netflix.

I love football. But it goes through periods of poor play.

For years, the NFL was the one league apparently immune from ratings downturns of any significance.

Conservative voters will put up with a lot of things in the culture that disagree with their views. They have proven time and again they will roll their eyes at actors and musicians saying negative things about the presidents and candidates they vote for and still consume their product.

Sometimes, quarterbacks just get hurt. So do running backs, so do linemen, so do wide receivers. Blaming innovative schemes for these injuries is shortsighted.

Scarcity of quarterback talent ought to inspire innovation in a sport that desperately needs it.

Every day, we publish articles at 'The Federalist' with which I disagree.

I will not apologize ever, for any reason, for publishing the views of people who don't make a living in politics about why they plan to vote a certain way.

The goal of any worthwhile and effective journal of opinion analysis in navigating what is an increasingly tribal and divisive period in American history should be to promote real debate. That does not mean retreating to our corners and pretending that, if we ignore the perspectives we don't like, they will magically go away.

We all consume Netflix and other streaming services in different ways. Sometimes, it's a movie you're really going to focus on; other times, it's background noise to something else, where you won't really pay attention.

When the holidays approach and the weather turns cold, you spend your nights watching and rewatching saccharine movies until you fall asleep, hoping for some gleam of happiness or catharsis that never comes, a version of life that looks like a Hallmark movie or where your idealized prince finally shows up.

One of the differences between what happens when an author and a gossip columnist sit down to write a book is that the former tends to make every effort at disguising and protecting their sources, while the latter doesn't particularly care.

Reviewing Michael Wolff's 'Fire and Fury' presents a challenge for those of us tired of a media environment where the dominant voices consistently try to have it both ways.

Careful authors and journalists cultivate relationships with a wide variety of sources so as to avoid bad information or being led down an inaccurate path. Gossip columnists don't particularly care if the path is inaccurate, so long as it gets attention and results in more fuel for the fire.

It'd be nice to say that American media doesn't hate this country.

It'd be nice to claim that the American press, while maintaining objectivity and balancing against bias, is still inherently American - that they are patriots who love this country even as they report on its defects.

Being a bureaucrat means never having to say you're sorry.

While I am not a journalist, I have, myself, written more than one thing that has been plagiarized in the past.

I know that charges of plagiarism are serious.

I came from a religious, homeschooled background; I had conventional views across the board.

I stopped being a Republican because of the Iraq War.