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Proponents of privatization argued that cities and states needed private capital to fund all the upgrades that our decaying infrastructure so desperately needed.

We are a coalition government, and that limits our options in some ways. Privatization happens to be one such area.

Country banks are more flexible in their lending policies than their city brethren are.

I see city finances within the context of an economic strategy... We are going to solve our financial problems by growing the economy, and I have rejected some corners that have called for a slash-and-burn approach, and I've rejected others who have called for raising taxes and leaving government as is.

It's extremely important for our banks to have more capital, higher quality capital.

I'm all in favor of banks that play their part in community endeavors, private individuals looking for loans, people who want to start up a little business, and that's what banks are for.

Often you see big companies, big banks who are eager to embrace crushing regulatory burdens because they drive up everyone's costs.

Big banks have long had private equity divisions that put up capital for deals too complex or risky for individual shareholders to finance.

We can be certain that cities around the world will compete for the jobs that the next revival of the financial services industry will bring.