mark w olson : business trends and management challenges for the banking industry remarks by mr mark w olson, member of the board of governors of the us federal reserve system, at the annual economic outlook conference, middle tennessee state university, murfreesboro, tennessee, 16 september 2005. * * * good morning. when i decided a few weeks ago to focus my remarks on the challenges facing the banking industry, i could not have imagined the challenges that gulf coast financial institutions and their customers would face in the devastating aftermath of hurricane katrina. so, before i turn to my planned topic of discussing banking and banking supervision more generally, i'd like to spend a few moments reviewing the efforts of the federal reserve, some of them in conjunction with other financial institution regulators, to maintain and restore vital financial services to the people of the gulf coast - - including those who remain in the region and those who have been forced by the storm to relocate outside the region. first, however, i want to express our heartfelt sympathy to all of the individuals and families who have suffered greatly in the past few weeks and to acknowledge the very brave efforts of many individuals to save lives, help the sick and displaced, and restore public order. at the federal reserve's new orleans branch, essential employees stayed with the office to keep it secure despite the rising flood waters and limited contact with the outside world. in the end, the office barely escaped the flooding, and we are continuing to help our staff members whose lives have been totally disrupted. as of yesterday, all but one of the branch's 176 employees had been accounted for. we very much hope that this individual will be located soon. the federal reserve bank of atlanta is the parent bank for our new orleans branch. i want to commend the bank's staff for their hard work during this very trying time. the senior leadership in atlanta took a number of important steps to work with banks, thrifts, and credit unions in an effort to ease, where possible, the burdens on these institutions and their customers. for example, in the aftermath of hurricanes or other disasters, the simple provision of cash from the federal reserve to banks and from banks to their customers becomes critical. the federal reserve bank of atlanta and other federal reserve offices quickly adjusted their operations so that the cash services normally supplied by the new orleans office could be provided by other fed offices surrounding the disaster area. to ensure that all banks got the cash services they needed, these offices remained open

jerome h powell : brief remarks on the us economy speech by mr jerome h powell, chairman of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at rhode island business leaders day, washington dc, 27 september 2018. * * * good afternoon. thank you, senator reed, for the kind words and the opportunity to be a part of the annual rhode island business leaders day. and thank you, all, for sticking with the program for the last speaker of the day. the federal open market committee, the body within the federal reserve that sets monetary policy, just concluded a meeting yesterday. i plan to talk briefly about how my colleagues and i see the economy evolving and our role in keeping it healthy. importantly, i want to hear from you. i very much appreciate your views, as business people, of economic conditions where you live and work. and, of course, i will be happy to respond to questions. our economy is strong. growth is running at a healthy clip. unemployment is low, the number of people working is rising steadily, and wages are up. inflation is low and stable. all of these developments are very good signs. of course, that is not to say that everything is perfect. the benefits of this strong economy have not reached all americans. many of our countrya€™s economic challenges are beyond the scope of the fed, but we are doing all we can to keep the economy strong and moving forward. that is the best way we can promote an environment in which every american has the opportunity to succeed. each time we meet, we face the same question : how can we set monetary policy to best support job growth and low, steady inflation? for many years, this question called for very low interest rates to help an economy that had been damaged by the deep financial crisis that gripped the world 10 years ago. as the economy has steadily gained strength, the fed has been gradually returning interest rates closer to the levels that are normal in a healthy economy. we took another step on that path yesterday, with a quarter - point increase in short - term interest rates. these rates remain low, and my colleagues and i believe that this gradual return to normal is helping to sustain this strong economy for the longer - run benefit of all americans. as i mentioned, 10 years have now passed since the depths of the financial crisis a painful part of our history that cost many americans their jobs, their homes, and, for some, their hopes and dreams. in addition to holding interest