Pushing on a string is a figure of speech for influence that is more effective in moving things in one direction than another – you can pull, but not push.
If something is connected to you by a string, you can move it toward you by pulling on the string, but you can't move it away from you by pushing on the string. It is often used in the context of economic policy, specifically the view that "Monetary policy asymmetric; it being easier to stop an expansion than to end a severe contraction."
Read more about Pushing On A String: History, Monetary Policy
Famous quotes containing the words pushing and/or string:
“Are you being sinister or is this some form of practical joke?
I’m trying to come to the point.
I refuse to give up my obsession.
America stop pushing I know what I’m doing.
America the plum blossoms are falling.”
—Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926)
“... looped with the creep of varying light,
Monkey-brown, fish-grey, a string of infected circles
Loitering like bullies, about to coagulate....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)