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* It's an institution that's dedicated to stability, accountability, efficiency,
and, quite honestly, integrity.
I think those principles are timeless.
* I have been extremely impressed by the people at the Fed.
They're some of the most competent people
that I have ever met in any organization.
* There's no institution of governance in the world that is looked
at with more respect from its both professionalism and its integrity
than the United States Federal Reserve System.
* And so you can be working in cash operations or the research department
or checks and you will all be working for the same goal
which is to serve the public.
And I like that, it inspires me.
* Before 1913, we had an economic system that had some nice properties;
we had very rapid innovation and growth.
But we also had a lot of recessions and financial panics.
So the economy was very volatile and this affected people's lives.
Year-to-year, month-to-month people didn't know what was coming.
* And so, therefore, the Federal Reserve was established,
and it has become a bellwether institution for the American Republic,
also for the rest of the world.
* The Fed has evolved a lot over its hundred year history.
People may not realize that, early on,
we really didn't have such a role in monetary policy.
We were much more about financial stability,
we had very little role in checks, for example.
We were not as involved in supervision.
Over the years, those roles have increased, and some have now ebbed.
* The main mission -- which is set by law as trying to attain the goals
of maximum employment, price stability and moderate long term interest rates --
those goals will probably stay the same.
But the methods that we use to meet those goals may change.
* They don't learn that quickly, but they do learn, and so they make mistakes,
they made mistakes in 1920-21- they learned.
And then The Great Depression came, they really made some big mistakes, okay?
It took them a while, it took them into the 50's.
And then Mr. Volcker came in and he really did put the Fed on a great track
from the mid-1980s until the 2000s.
Now, we had a big crisis, and there is a debate
about the Federal Reserve's roll in it.
I suspect that what is going to come out of all this is that there will be a lot
of learning again, and there will be a lot of moving forward.
* For almost a century now, I think the Federal Reserve has created a tremendous
amount of trust on the part of the American people.
* There's a sense of security, I think, and stability when we go to our bank
or we do our personal banking.
We don't really think about if the check is going to clear.
We don't really think about if the doors are going
to be open the next day that we go to the bank.
* Unless the economy's facing a crisis of some kind,
what central banks do is hidden from view.
* Well, the Federal Reserve provides financial services
to financial institutions.
It provides regulatory and supervisory oversight to commercial banks,
and bank holding companies.
* Then we have the monetary policy function that works to adjust interest rates,
all with the overall goal of making sure the economy is stable
and that we maximize employment in the country.
* Prior to FOMC meetings, we brief our president on the incoming data --
the forecast and the outlook and if there's any special topics
or anything to be concerned about.
* Yes, the information that we get from people in the communities,
whether it's business owners, people in academia, bankers,
reports from our directors and our advisors,
that information is then transmitted to our senior management
and the president will take that information to Washington
when the Federal Open Market Committee meets,
and the information ultimately effects monetary policy.
* I think there is a perception that the FOMC comes together
and they put on their visors, and they make monetary policy in a vacuum
and nothing could be further from the truth.
* In actuality, the Fed is a grassroots organization clearly
with a strong presence in Washington,
but with ties to communities in cities all around the country.
* The Federal Reserve was set up in the first place with 12 reserve banks
around the country deliberately to bring together diverse points of view
around the country to Washington.
* So when decisions are made, they're not made in isolation.
They're actually made with input from the American people.
* One of the things that we're involved in is making sure
that banks have enough money, currency and coin,
so that they can give to people that hold accounts there.
* What you're seeing is really an operations group that is receiving in currency
from our financial institutions, depositing it with the Fed.
And then what we'll do is we'll process that currency.
Make sure it's fit for commerce.
Make sure it's of good quality.
And then when our customers, our financial institutions,
need that currency back, we'll make sure to pay it out.
* The Fed's role in the payment system directly touches the lives
of pretty much every American every day.
It is what allows money to move from one place to another.
We had a dedicated transportation network of airplanes and trucks that went
around the country every day collecting checks and delivering them
to the bank on which they're drawn.
* I can remember just a few years ago that we were bundling cash letters,
putting them in bags, sending somebody to the airport 40 miles away
to catch the plane to the Federal Reserve by eight o'clock.
Rain, sleet, shine.
It didn't matter.
We had to be there.
Today it's all electronic.
* Now, well over 99 percent of checks collected
in this country are cleared electronically rather than paper form.
That is largely due to the Federal Reserve.
* The Fed's impact in community development is important.
When you have economists from the Fed,
who have really deep knowledge of job creation and economic vitality,
then it gives us the ability to really influence the way jobs are created.
* I'm the officer over our community development department,
which is a department that does applied research,
and outreach on community development issues --
housing, education, economic development, and growth.
* I actually questioned folks about why they wanted me on the Fed.
I'm not an economist, I'm not a banker, never was a banker,
my background's in non-profits and working with communities directly.
They said "perfect because we want
to understand how economic policy actually affects people on the street."
* In addition to that, there are lots of people that work on rules
and regulations, monitoring the banks to make sure
that they're following all the things that they're supposed to be doing,
so that they run safely and securely.
So that's our supervision function.
* When there is not a lot of excitement it's usually a good thing.
When I'm engaged in my day-to- day job, I can't forget that,
even though I'm looking at very specific details, or maybe just one institution,
if I don't uphold my responsibility and act with the highest integrity,
then that kind of compromises on a national level,
having a safe and sound banking system.
* The Federal Reserve is an institution that has an important role in responding
to crises for the American economy.
Think of it in part this is what it's set up to do.
To help the economy deal with financial panics.
* My worst day was, was certainly 9/11.
I had commuted from New Jersey,
and had just gotten out of the World Trade Center,
was about a hundred feet from the exit when I heard the first plane come in,
and ran for the safest place I knew, which was the Fed.
And when the collapse started happening,
everybody ran down into the vaults underneath the New York Fed
where the gold and, and security certificates were stored.
The crisis was obviously severe, and I think for me, the,
the key moment came even on 9/11 that afternoon
when the Fed released a statement that read
"the Federal Reserve System is open and operating.
The discount window is available to meet liquidity needs."
* For the full week after 9/11 until things calmed down,
we made sure that the Banks had all of the liquidity, meaning all of the money,
that they needed to take care of their customers and we said to the banks,
"you cannot close, we're open, we will take care of whatever you need."
* And so the fact that you have an institution that has the capacity
and the legal authority to act immediately in times
of crisis is a very important thing.
* One of the wisest things Congress ever did was in 1913
to create a Federal Reserve System,
and I think one of the least wise things it could do would be to abolish it.
* Well it's fine to talk about ending the Fed, but the,
the country needs a monetary policy.
And there are only a couple of alternatives to ending the FED.
One of the most prominently spoken of is a return to the gold standard.
The problem is we know the problems
of the gold standard and they are significant.
* We need to remember that the Federal Reserve exists for a reason.
There were panics in the late 19th century that sort of led to the creation
of the Federal Reserve in the first place.
* Yeah I couldn't imagine what would have happened had we went
through the financial crisis without the ability to conduct monetary policy.
* And if you look back in history then you realize
that having independent central banks, it's a pretty good deal.
* I think this is an institution that should be commemorated
and it's an institution that should be carefully watched.
That's the nature of governance.
That's the nature of the American way.
* I would like to see it keep evolving in the direction
of being more transparent and explaining itself,
and following rule-like behavior --
very, very transparent mechanisms that can be explained to the public.
* Sometimes the things that you read
or hear about the Federal Reserve just don't sound at all like the place I work.
There is no conspiracy.
These are just people trying to do the right thing, the best way they know how.
* There is just an incredible sense of duty, mission,
accountability, and responsibility.
* I'm always proud to work at the Fed but never as proud as I've been.
It's super easy to show up for work and do a good job when everybody loves you,
but it's much more difficult when you're in the public eye
and it's not a positive eye and everybody showed up and did the same work
and actually was willing to sort of say, yes, look at us, evaluate us,
criticize us, help us get better.
So that's made me extremely proud to work at the Fed.
* So we've made some programmatic and operational changes over time,
but we're still here after one hundred years, and we're still strong.
* So, what will the next 100 years look like for the Federal Reserve?
It's an uncertainty.
But if the past is any reflection of the future,
we'll be the dynamic organization that's responsive to the needs of, of society.
* And, I think, if we can continue to do this job for the next hundred years,
the country will be pretty good.
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