mario draghi : ecb press conference – introductory statement introductory statement by mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank, and mr vitor constancio, vice - president of the european central bank, frankfurt am main, 4 july 2013. * * * ladies and gentlemen, the vice - president and i are very pleased to welcome you to our press conference. we will now report on the outcome of today ’ s meeting of the governing council, which was also attended by the commission vice - president, mr. rehn. based on our regular economic and monetary analyses, we decided to keep the key ecb interest rates unchanged. incoming information has confirmed our previous assessment. underlying price pressures in the euro area are expected to remain subdued over the medium term. in keeping with this picture, monetary and, in particular, credit dynamics remain subdued. inflation expectations for the euro area continue to be firmly anchored in line with our aim of maintaining inflation rates below, but close to, 2 % over the medium term. at the same time, recent confidence indicators based on survey data have shown some further improvement from low levels. our monetary policy stance is geared towards maintaining the degree of monetary accommodation warranted by the outlook for price stability and promoting stable money market conditions. it thereby provides support to a recovery in economic activity later in the year and in 2014. looking ahead, our monetary policy stance will remain accommodative for as long as necessary. the governing council expects the key ecb interest rates to remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time. this expectation is based on the overall subdued outlook for inflation extending into the medium term, given the broad - based weakness in the real economy and subdued monetary dynamics. in the period ahead, we will monitor all incoming information on economic and monetary developments and assess any impact on the outlook for price stability. let me now explain our assessment in greater detail, starting with the economic analysis. real gdp declined by 0. 3 % in the first quarter of 2013, following a contraction of 0. 6 % in the last quarter of 2012. at the same time, labour market conditions remain weak. recent developments in cyclical indicators, particularly those based on survey data, indicate some further improvement from low levels. looking ahead to later in the year and to 2014, euro area export growth should benefit from a gradual recovery in global demand, while domestic demand should be supported by the accommodative monetary policy stance as well as the recent gains

janet l yellen : remarks accepting the 2017 paul h douglas award for ethics in government speech by ms janet l yellen, chair of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the institute of government and public affairs at the university of illinois, washington dc, 7 november 2017. * * * thank you for the honor of sharing this award with such a worthy person, my friend and former colleague ben bernanke, and also for the honor of being associated with the exemplary life and legacy of paul douglas. sen. douglas ’ s contributions to ethics in government are an important aspect of that legacy, but since ben and i are the first economists to win this award, i would also like to give due credit to professor douglas for his contributions to economics. working with the mathematician charles cobb, douglas gathered data and created a statistical model that advanced economists ’ understanding of the relative contributions to production made by capital and labor. this work demonstrated many of the methods that economists would come to use and continue to use to this day. douglas constructed empirical measures of key economic concepts. he then employed what were, for the time, advanced statistical techniques to analyze these data, thereby shedding light on a basic economic relationship. as one recent commentator put it, work such as douglas ’ s was part of “ a growing literature,,, [ that ] played an important role in shaping the approach to combining statistical methods and economic theory that would become the standard econometric practice in the later decades of the 20th century. " 1 but, of course, paul douglas was much more than an economist. from an early age, he always seemed to be the man in the middle, seen by the two sides of a dispute as intelligent, knowledgeable, and impartial enough to be trusted to seek a solution. he mediated labor disputes and advised local government officials in illinois. he also helped governors in pennsylvania and new york develop what became social security, unemployment insurance, and the idea of publicly owned power utilities. after losing his first election for the u. s. senate in 1942, at the age of 49 he enlisted in the u. s. marines and was awarded a bronze star and purple heart for his service in the pacific. later, after he was elected to the senate, douglas was a champion of consumer protection laws, including the 1968 truth in lending act, and was a leading supporter of civil rights legislation. one of paul douglas ’ s most important achievements in public life was to promote ethics in government