to you today, i asked : how might i, a central banker whose musings are given to the arcana of economic and monetary policy, possibly improve upon the wisdom of the ultimate sources? not easily. so i dug deep into my memory bank and called upon a source more erudite than the lessons of the bible or the quran, confucius or shakespeare, and even more insightful than diana sorensen – mike ’ s and my mother, magnhild andersen fisher, whom everybody called “ babe ”. babe fisher never enjoyed the benefit of the type of education you have received. yet she was a wise woman. she was a kind of female nordic yogi berra who dispensed exquisite pearls of wisdom to her boys. one is especially germane for this ceremony. our mother would say : “ never let your brains go to your head ”. the pun is horrific but the message is profound : to achieve success, you will need to keep your superb education and your considerable talent in perspective. brains and the gift of talent are necessary, but they are insufficient for success in life. time and again, in business and universities and government we see instances in which women and men of towering intellect get far at first but ultimately snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. they do so because they have forgotten to develop their emotional quotient with the same devotion they applied to developing their intelligence quotient. my heartfelt advice to you is to work as hard on expanding your eq as you have on harnessing your iq. you all have great futures ahead of you. you will get there just as fast, and enjoy it much more, if you remember that a sound mind resides most comfortably in a sound, well - rounded person and that a sound, well - rounded person has more than a superior education and brain. the whole person is as important an achievement for those few who have been admitted to the “ society of educated men and women ” as is the achievement of intellectual excellence. as a former midshipman, i have always been inspired by the creed of the father of the navy, john paul jones, as written by his biographer augustus buell. “ it is by no means enough that an officer of the navy should be a capable mariner. he must be that, of course, but also a great deal more. he should be as well a gentleman of liberal education, refined manners, punctilious courtesy, and the nicest sense

”, canadian journal of economics, forthcoming ( b ). eichengreen, b. and m. flandreau ( 2009 ), “ the rise and fall of the dollar, or when did the dollar replace sterling as the leading reserve currency? ”, european review of economic history 13, pp. 377 – 411. elayi, j. and elayi, a. g. ( 1993 ), tresors de monnaies pheniciennes et circulation monetaire ( ve - ive siecle avant j. - c. ). supplement n°1 a transeuphratene, paris. european central bank ( 2015 ), the international role of the euro, frankfurt am main. fahri, e., gourinchas, p. o. and rey, h. ( 2011 ), reforming the international monetary system, cepr, london. feldstein, m. ( 1997 ), “ emu and international conflict ”, foreign affairs 76, pp. 60 – 73. friedman, m. ( 1969 ), “ the euro - dollar market : some first principles ”, selected papers, no. 34, graduate school of business, university of chicago. gopinath, g., itskhoki, o. and rigobon, r. ( 2010 ) “ currency choice and exchange rate passthrough ”, american economic review 100 ( 1 ), pp. 304 – 336. gourinchas, p. - o., rey, h and govillot, n. ( 2010 ), “ exorbitant privilege and exorbitant duty ”, imes discussion paper, no 2010 - e - 20, tokyo. grab, j. and lafarguette, r. ( 2015 ), differences in exchange rate pass - through in the euro area : the role of currency invoicing, european central bank, mimeo, frankfurt am main. krugman, p. ( 1980 ), “ vehicle currencies and the structure of international exchange ”, journal of money, credit and banking 12, pp. 513 – 526. krugman, p. ( 1984 ), “ the international role of the dollar : theory and prospect ”, in john bilson and richard marston ( eds. ), exchange rate theory and practice, chicago : university of chicago press, pp. 261 – 278. lindert, p. (