for the transportation and processing of paper. we are involved in several pilot studies of ecp, including one which we hope will include all depository institutions in the whole state of montana. montana has small banks widely dispersed over great distances. it seems like the right place to see whether, if virtually all the institutions participate, it would be cheaper and more satisfactory to send images electronically rather than to move paper over thousands of miles. like others who have been studying the business case for ecp and imaging, we believe the jury is still out. it is not clear that moving the whole national check processing system to ecp ( with or without imaging ) would provide net societal benefits even if the willingness and resources to do it could be found. so you will see us working hard, in collaboration with others in the industry, to explore, in practical ways, the potential advantages and disadvantages of ecp. you will also see us working hard, in collaboration with nacha and others, to improve ach service, make it more user friendly and increase its use. you will see us trying, through surveys, focus groups and other tools, to learn more about how consumers and businesses use different types of retail payments and how they think about them. as we have worked on positioning the fed to help move the nation to the payments system of the future, we realized that many of our assumptions about the composition and use of retail payments, paper checks in particular, are based on information collected by survey in 1979 and were likely seriously out of date. we and the industry need more current information on which to base strategies going forward. we will also be reaching out to participants in the payments system in a variety of groupings to talk about alternative visions of the payments system of the future, what the legal, regulatory and technological barriers there might be to getting there and what we might be able to do to reduce those barriers. we certainly do not see the fed managing the process of transition to a more fully electronic payments system. we believe strongly that innovations must come primarily from the private sector and be tested in the marketplace to see if they meet customer needs at competitive prices. but there are times when progress can be stymied by legal or regulatory barriers or by the absence of technological standards, especially standards that allow communication among competing systems. in these instances, dialogue and collaborative effort can pay off for the whole system and its customers. the fed wants to be an active participant in that dialogue along with other providers and users of

ben s bernanke : remarks on historically black colleges and universities speech by mr ben s bernanke, chairman of the board of governors of the us federal reserve system, at the 2008 national historically black colleges and universities week conference, washington dc, 9 september 2008. * * * good morning. i am very pleased to join you at this conference. as an economist, but also as a former professor, one - time school board member, spouse of a teacher, and parent of two young adults pursuing higher education, i am always glad to have an opportunity to speak about the importance of education to our nation's economy and our society. this morning i am especially pleased to highlight the past and continuing importance of the nation's historically black colleges and universities. given my audience, i may be " preaching to the choir, " so to speak, on this topic, but i trust that you will appreciate the sermon. education is vital to our prosperity. it fundamentally supports advances in productivity, upon which our ability to generate continuing improvement in our standard of living depends. as our economy becomes more and more technologically advanced and globally interconnected, the skills, knowledge, and analytical ability that education develops are becoming ever more crucial to each individual's success. a substantial body of research demonstrates that investments in education – higher education, certainly, but also lifelong education, from preschool to mid - career training and adult education – pay high rates of return both to individuals and to our society as a whole. moreover, the benefits of education are more than economic. by providing us with a broader view of the world, education helps each of us become the most complete person we can be. research suggests that morehighly - educated individuals are happier on average, make better personal financial decisions, suffer fewer spells of unemployment, and enjoy better health. educated individuals also are more likely to participate in civic affairs, volunteer their time to charities, and subscribe to personal values – such as tolerance and an appreciation of cultural differences – that are increasingly crucial for the healthy functioning of our diverse society. given our responsibilities at the federal reserve as a central bank and financial institution regulator, we see financial education in particular as a vital part of our mission. in our increasingly complex financial marketplace, choosing a credit card, saving for education and retirement, and buying a home now require more financial savvy than ever before. to help meet these needs, the federal reserve supports a variety of programs and initiatives to increase financial literacy.