by investors and the public in the strength of key financial institutions and markets, which has had cascading and unwelcome effects on the availability of credit and the value of savings. the actions today are aimed at restoring confidence in our institutions and markets and repairing their capacity to meet the credit needs of american households and businesses. the voluntary equity purchase program will strengthen financial institutions'capacity and willingness to lend. the guarantee of the senior debt of all fdic - insured depository institutions and their holding companies will restore the confidence of these institutions'creditors and reinvigorate the crucial inter - bank lending markets. additionally, the federal reserve is pressing forward with its facility to provide a broad backstop for the commercial paper market, so vital to the functioning of our businesses. policymakers here and around the globe have taken a series of extraordinary steps. americans can be confident that every resource is being brought to bear : historical understanding, technical expertise, economic analysis, and political leadership. i am not suggesting the way forward will be easy. but i strongly believe that the application of these tools, together with the underlying vitality and resilience of the american economy, will help to restore confidence to our financial system and place our economy back on a path to vigorous, healthy growth.

jerome h powell : community development speech ( via webcast ) by mr jerome h powell, chair of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the " 2021 just economy conference ", sponsored by the national community reinvestment coalition, washington dc, 3 may 2021. * * * good afternoon. it is a pleasure to be with you today. together, over the past year, we have been making our way through a very difficult time. we are not out of the woods yet, but i am glad to say that we are now making real progress. while some countries are still suffering terribly in the grip of covid - 19, the economic outlook here in the united states has clearly brightened. vaccination levels are rising. fiscal and monetary policy are providing strong support. the economy is reopening, bringing stronger economic activity and job creation. that is the high - level perspective — let ’ s call it the 30, 000 foot view — and from that vantage point, we see improvement. but we should also take a look at what is happening at street level. lives and livelihoods have been affected in ways that vary from person to person, family to family, and community to community. the economic downturn has not fallen evenly on all americans, and those least able to bear the burden have been the hardest hit. the pain is all the greater in light of the gains we had seen in the years prior to the pandemic. covid swept in as the united states was experiencing the longest expansion on record. unemployment was at 50 - year lows, and inflation remained under control. wages were moving up, particularly for the lowest - paid workers. long - standing racial disparities in unemployment were narrowing, and many who had struggled for years were finding jobs. it was not until the later years of that expansion that its benefits had started to reach those on the margins. during our fed listens events, we met with people around the country and heard repeatedly about the life - changing gains of the strong labor market, particularly at the lower end of the income spectrum. just a few months later, those stories changed to ones of job losses, overextended support services, and businesses built over generations closing their doors for good. while the recovery is gathering strength, it has been slower for those in lower - paid jobs : almost 20 percent of workers who were in the lowest earnings quartile in february of 2020 were not employed a year later, compared to