well given the demographics of the second half of the twentieth century. but as i have argued previously, the system is ill - suited to address the unprecedented shift of population from the workforce to retirement that will start in 2008. much attention has been focused on the forecasted exhaustion of the social security trust fund in 2042. but solving that problem will do little in itself to meet the imperative to boost our national saving. raising national saving is an essential step if we are to build a capital stock that by, say, 2030 will be sufficiently large to produce goods and services adequate to meet the needs of retirees without unduly curbing the standard of living of our working - age population. unfortunately, the current social security system has not proven a reliable vehicle for such saving. indeed, although the trust funds have been running annual surpluses since the mid - 1980s, one can credibly argue that they have served primarily to facilitate larger deficits in the rest of the budget and therefore have added little or nothing to national saving. in my view, a retirement system with a significant personal accounts component would provide a more credible means of ensuring that the program actually adds to overall saving and, in turn, boosts the nation's capital stock. the reason is that money allocated to the personal accounts would no longer be available to fund other government activities and - barring an offsetting reduction in private saving outside the new accounts - would, in effect, be reserved for future consumption needs. the challenge of medicare is far more problematic than that associated with social security. a major reason is the large variance of possible outcomes mentioned earlier coupled with the inadequacy of the current medical information base. some important efforts are under way to use the capabilities of information technology to improve the health - care system. if supported and promoted, these efforts could provide key insights into clinical best practices and substantially reduce administrative costs. and, with time, we should also gain valuable knowledge about the best approaches to restraining the growth of overall health - care spending. crafting a budget strategy that meets the nation's longer - run needs will become ever more difficult the more we delay. the one certainty is that the resolution of the nation's unprecedented demographic challenge will require hard choices and that the future performance of the economy will depend on those choices. no changes will be easy, as they all will involve setting priorities and, in the main, lowering claims on resources. it falls to the congress to determine how best to address

example and advice as colleagues. but there is more to the story than successful leadership. the success of our institution is really the result of the way all of us carry out our responsibilities. we approach every issue through a rigorous evaluation of the facts, theory, empirical analysis and relevant research. we consider a range of external and internal views ; our unique institutional structure, with a board of governors in washington and 12 reserve banks around the country, ensures that we will have a diversity of perspectives at all times. we explain our actions to the public. we listen to feedback and give serious consideration to the possibility that we might be getting something wrong. there is great value in having thoughtful, well - informed critics. while the challenges we face are always evolving, the fed ’ s approach will remain the same. today, the global economy is recovering strongly for the first time in a decade. we are in the process of gradually normalizing both interest rate policy and our balance sheet with a view to extending the recovery and sustaining the pursuit of our objectives. we will also preserve the essential gains in financial regulation while seeking to ensure that our policies are as efficient as possible. we will remain alert to any developing risks to financial stability. 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches i am deeply grateful for the opportunity to lead the fed as we face these evolving challenges. i believe that the way we approach our work, the strong values we hold, and the dedication to public service i see throughout the federal reserve have been the keys to our success. as chairman, i will uphold these values and do my very best to further our pursuit of something we all seek — an economy that works for all americans. 1 on monday, february 5, 2018, jerome powell officially took the oath of office as chairman of the board of governors of the federal reserve system ( for more information, see the board ’ s press release available at www. federalreserve. gov / newsevents / pressreleases / other20180205a. htm ). this february 13 event is a ceremonial swearing - in. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches