The Islamic financial community thus needs to effectively respond to this, by strengthening their internal capability to make sound assessments on the need for making similar regulatory reforms that are specifically attuned for Islamic finance to achieve the common objective of financial stability. With this in mind, I am pleased to inform you that following the recent completion of the work by the Task Force on Islamic Finance and Global Financial Stability, that was jointly formed by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the IFSB in 2009, the Report has now been released following the endorsement by the IFSB Council in Khartoum, Sudan, in April this year. The Report examines the conceptual elements inherent in Islamic finance that form the foundation of its strengths and contribution towards financial stability. The Report also provides a preliminary assessment on the performance of Islamic finance during this recent international financial crisis. The final part of the Report outlines eight key recommendations to further strengthen the foundations of the Islamic financial system in a more challenging global environment. Although the Islamic financial services industry has generally performed well in the face of the recent global financial turbulence, there are clear lessons to be learnt from the crisis. The recommendations were therefore developed upon careful reflection on the conditions and financial practices that have contributed to the global crisis, as well as the current direction of the global regulatory reform.

The combination of high inequality and low mobility is problematic, because it means that being born into a low-income family is more consequential today than in the past. Since education is a key determinant of upward mobility, one way to increase economic mobility in the United States would be to increase overall post-secondary educational attainment. There are, however, a number of important barriers to achieving that goal. First, many high school students and their parents appear to lack accurate information about the returns obtained from a college education. New York Fed research shows evidence of systematic underestimation of the average benefits—and overestimation of costs—of a college education, with larger biases among lower-income and non-college households. Research by Caroline Hoxby and Sarah Turner shows that among low-income high school students, even very high achievers are poorly informed about the academic options that are available and their effects on career opportunities. This research finds that the provision of relevant information can lead to markedly better outcomes. A second impediment is the lack of preparedness among new college entrants, with large numbers of those students needing remedial courses that earn no college credit. Low readiness contributes to persistently low college completion rates, especially among lower-income, parttime, and nontraditional students. Higher dropout rates, in turn, contribute to a substantial reduction in the net expected and realized returns from college attendance. The third major barrier to college attendance and completion is the rise in the cost of a college education.