Henry Paulson

“Frankly I'm a bit concerned when it comes to U.S.-China relations.”

“If AIG collapsed, it would have buckled our financial system and wrought economic havoc on the lives of millions of our citizens.”

“I will never apologize for changing the approach or strategy when the facts change.”

“I was secretary of the Treasury in 2008. In that role, I had the privilege to work with many talented men and women in government and the private sector who labored to pull our nation back from the brink of disaster.”

“When the economy is growing, there's a lot that can be done to deal with the deficit.”

“As Americans, we shouldn't like bailouts. Where I come from, if someone takes a risk and they're going to make the profit from that risk, they shouldn't have the taxpayer pay for the losses.”

“The cheapest and cleanest energy is the energy you don't use.”

“I don't know anyone that says, 'Boy, I had a great career, and I'm happy because I screwed up my life outside of my career, my family life.' There's no one that feels that way.”

“As a steward of the U.S.economy and financial systems, the Treasury has helped lay the groundwork for the American economy to become a model of strength, flexibility, dynamism, resiliency. This is a system that generates growth, creates jobs and wealth, rewards initiative, and fosters innovation.”

“When the financial system works as it should, money and capital flow to and from households and businesses to pay for home loans, school loans, and investments to create jobs.”

“A study by Treasury economists estimated that a country with a tax rate one percentage point lower than another country's attracts 3 percent more capital. It's not surprising then, that average OECD corporate tax rates have trended steadily downward.”

“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.”

“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.'”

“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.”

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

“As the Indian government has embraced greater economic openness, the creativity and expertise of the Indian workforce has been unleashed onto the world economic stage.”

“Taxpayer money should not have to be spent to save a misguided and mismanaged enterprise.”

“My focus is on the financial sector, on getting credit going, getting lending flowing. I can't imagine anything that would have a bigger stimulative impact.”

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

“I can't help but think what would have happened if a divisive character such as Trump were president during the 2008 financial crisis, at a time when leadership, compromise, and careful analysis were critical.”