recession was shallower and shorter than the average of the past helped limit the scale and scope of losses to financial institutions. the forcefulness of the monetary policy response and the large fiscal stimulus provided by the tax cuts and expenditure increases played a significant role in limiting the depth of the downturn and in helping to bring about the recovery. it is significant that the yield curve has been steeper and stayed steep longer in this latest recession than in the previous one. and, finally, the stronger microeconomic fundamentals of the u. s. economy - the shift to just - in - time inventory management, the speed of innovation in the u. s. economy, and other factors that seem to have reduced the amplitude of the business cycle and improved the flexibility and resilience of the u. s. economy in response to shocks - have also contributed to financial stability. changes in the nature of financial intermediation have also played a role in improving the overall resilience and performance of the u. s. financial system that was evident in this latest period of economic recession and financial stress. four different types of changes are particularly important. • innovation in financial technology continues to expand the opportunities for financial institutions to separate and distribute, and to manage and hedge, different types of risk. • the increasingly greater role played by the capital markets in the financial intermediation process relative to banks - both relative to the past and compared with most other major economies - has improved the capacity of our system to handle stress. loans and securities held by commercial banks today account for less than 20 percent of overall u. s. credit market debt, roughly two - - thirds of their 1975 levels. • the increases in the sophistication of risk management techniques and enhancements to risk management processes have delivered substantial improvements in how banks and other financial institutions actually manage risk in practice. banks, for example, have aligned their pricing of credit products much more closely with credit risk. • the increased scale of cross - border financial intermediation, the growing role of securitized financial instruments in those overall flows, and the growth in the size and breadth of financial institutions with global operations may also mean that, as shocks are transmitted more rapidly, they are diffused more broadly. these are positive developments, and they are likely to be enduring. but they have come with new challenges for those of you who manage financial institutions and for those of us charged with supervision and market oversight. the overall return on these changes will depend on

seem to be making an impact and could have broader potential that are worth sharing. early in my tenure i visited brooklyn p - tech and met with a dedicated and focused group of young students learning it skills for middle - skill jobs. this partnership between ibm corporation, the new york city department of education, the city university of new york, and the nyc college of technology, provides an instructive model. it takes kids from high school through an associate ’ s degree with corporate support and real - life experiences. and it ’ s working. their first class of 91 students entered the program in september 2011 and 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches almost all have since earned their high school diplomas and about half have earned an associate ’ s degree in a stem field. ibm has hired 23 graduates and continues to offer paid summer internships. 1 in a few weeks, i will be visiting per scholas, a tuition - free workforce training program in the bronx and in other parts of the country. it seeks to break the cycle of poverty by providing free technology career education, training, placement, and advancement services to people in underserved communities. approximately 90 % of per scholas trainees are people of color, with the large majority representing black / african american and hispanic / latino individuals - - groups with historically low representation in it and the financial services industry. this workforce program is unique in that it seeks to re - train adult workers for successful careers as technology professionals and works with employers in crafting unique training programs for their business. in 2017, per scholas ny enrolled 502 students and 406 graduated, of which a substantial majority reported being placed with an employer with an average starting wage of more than $ 20 an hour. 2 earlier this year, the new york fed partnered with per scholas ny to support our own diversity & inclusion efforts focused on career paths in it, cybersecurity, and data science in the financial services industry. i am proud to say that the new york fed was recognized by per scholas as a major partner in its recent 2018 annual update report. i mention these two examples as they reflect the theme of today ’ s event and the book — workforce development is about investing in work, workers and systems leading to greater employment opportunities for all. employer engagement by community colleges in new york state another important issue is the role of employer engagement with community colleges. by working directly with local employers, community colleges can more effectively prepare students for available