Part of my job is to make sense of all that I hear, and to retell it in a forceful way so that the decision-makers at Treasury can hear it. At least that's how I see it.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
As governor, part of my job is to tell people things they don't like to hear.
My work is about giving voice to the unheard, and reiterating the voice of the heard in such a way that you question, or re-examine, what is the truth.
If there is anything good to be said about my particular line of work, it's that we get to tell people the news they need to hear, and to put it in context. To get to that - for one hour every night on the 'PBS NewsHour,' and for an additional half-hour every Friday night on 'Washington Week,' we have to slog through a lot of tough stuff.
Folks want to be listened to, they want to be heard.
There is something about hearing your president affirm your humanity that you don't know what effect it has until you hear it.
When you hear a great two-track of a performance in Carnegie Hall, let's say, it sounds like you're right there at that moment. It's true to reality. And the closer it gets, once it gets too technical, it becomes very tinny to hear notes. It doesn't sound right. It has to be natural.
This bill, the Sound Dollar Act, is all about looking forward about the role the Fed should play.
I think it's easier than ever to hear only what you want to hear. That doesn't make a good citizen.
I listened very, very carefully to the world around me to pick up the signals of when trouble was coming. Not that I could stop it. But it made me observant. That was helpful when I became a lawyer, because I knew how to read people's signals.
As treasury secretary, I don't see it as my role commenting on the dollar in short-term movements.