“Government should eschew suasion and directives to banks on interest r...” — Urjit Patel Quote

Government should eschew suasion and directives to banks on interest rates that run counter to monetary policy actions.

It is important to recognise near- and medium-term risks to the inflation outlook.

The monetary policy committee could either keep rates constant, increase them, or bring them down. There are three options possible compared to when it is accommodative.

As many have pointed out, it is not clear that we need so many public sector banks. The system could be better off if they are consolidated into fewer but healthier banks.

The lack of a consistent policy from major economies is the main source of volatility.

International money transfer is a massive consumer rip-off. Banks and companies like Western Union have gotten away with it for too long.

Disney had made such a great deal of money on Snow White that the banks gave him the go-ahead on the next three films. But he was heavily dependent on the foreign market.

TARP became so politicized that having money from it was almost like a scarlet letter. There were debates over compensation, worry that the rules were going to get changed. All the banks were desperately rushing to get that money back as soon as possible - in part, so they could pay themselves bonuses without any government restrictions.

President Obama has a good sense not just of the economic requisites for financial crisis firefighting but also how you build political support for moving forward on reforming the financial system, making sure that the banks are carrying enough capital.