jerome h powell : monetary policy accommodation, risk - taking, and spillovers speech by mr jerome h powell, member of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the global research forum on international macroeconomics and finance, washington dc, 14 november 2014. * * * our panel ’ s topic – “ monetary policy spillovers and cooperation in a global economy ” – is surely a timely one. i will offer brief introductory thoughts and then discuss some recent research by federal reserve board economists that has bearing on these matters. 1 the federal reserve ’ s monetary policy is motivated by the dual mandate, which calls upon us to achieve stable prices and maximum sustainable employment. while these objectives are stated as domestic concerns, as a practical matter, economic and financial developments around the world can have significant effects on our own economy and vice versa. thus, the pursuit of our mandate requires that we understand and incorporate into our policy decisionmaking the anticipated effects of these interconnections. and the dollar ’ s role as the world ’ s primary reserve, transaction, and funding currency requires us to consider global developments to help ensure our own financial stability. since the financial crisis, the federal reserve has pursued a highly accommodative monetary policy, which has had important effects on asset prices and global investment flows. with unconventional tools, the scale and scope of these effects were difficult to predict ex ante. nor is it possible to predict with confidence how markets will react day to day as policy returns to normal. the federal open market committee ( fomc ) has gone to great lengths to provide transparency about its policy intentions. yet, since chairman bernanke first discussed the end of the asset purchase program in mid - 2013, volatility has surprised both on the upside ( the “ taper tantrum ” ) and on the downside ( the actual taper and the low volatility throughout most of 2014 ). in my view, while market volatility will continue to ebb and flow, these fluctuations are not likely to have important implications for policy. the path of policy will depend on the progress of the economy toward fulfilment of the dual mandate. overall, accommodative monetary policy seems to have provided significant support for u. s. growth. and, of course, a strong u. s. economy contributes to strong growth around the globe, particularly in the emerging market economies ( emes ). but what of the so - called spillovers in the

jean - claude trichet : thoughts on the euro area enlargement speech by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, at the celebration “ welcome to the euro ”, ljubljana, 15 january 2007. * * * ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure to be here with you today and celebrate the adoption of the euro in slovenia and, following the inclusion of greece in 2001, the second enlargement of the euro area since the introduction of the euro in then 11 eu member states on 1 january 1999. 1 january 2007 is a major landmark in the long and challenging economic and monetary integration process that brought slovenia into the euro area. the preparations to euro adoption demanded a lot of effort as well as political determination and commitment to pursue stability - oriented economic policies in slovenia. thanks to these policies, slovenia has made significant progress with regard to both nominal and real convergence in recent years and in 2006 managed to fulfil all economic and legal convergence criteria. at the same time, it has enjoyed high economic growth that made it possible to narrow the income gap vis - a - vis the euro area in terms of ppp from somewhat above 60 % of the euro area average in 1995 to close to 80 % now. let me congratulate the slovenian people on these remarkable achievements and let me warmly welcome you to the euro area. 1 january 2007 marks the beginning of a new economic era for slovenia. it does not, however, mark the end of economic challenges and the economic integration processes of your country into the rest of the euro area and the european union. in fact, like all other members of the euro area, slovenia has to make further efforts to intensify its economic integration within the euro area and i am confident it will do so. i will particularly stress that fiscal and structural policies become now even more important given that there is no longer the possibility to resort to independent domestic monetary or exchange rate policy. on this joyful occasion, i would like to share with you some thoughts on the euro area enlargement. contrary to occasional comments made, the current euro area enlargement clearly demonstrates that the euro area is not a closed club. instead its doors are open to any new eu member state that fulfils the necessary preconditions. let me recall that all countries that joined the european union in 2004 and 2007 became members of the economic and monetary union with a derogation. this means that they are not only entitled but expected to adopt