, whereas in the u. s. the current level of inflation expectations is consistent with the long - term objective of the fed. therefore, the boj, relative to the respective sizes of the two economies, has adopted a purchase program that is more aggressive that the u. s. program. this is true whether measured in terms of the amount of duration being pulled out of the market or purchases as a share of total issuance. lessons learned as i mentioned earlier, there have been at least six major areas where there has been significant learning, which has influenced the evolution of policy. let me turn to them. the importance of managing expectations managing expectations is always central to monetary policy. however, at the zero bound this is even more critical than usual. there are two aspects of this. first, keeping inflation expectations anchored at levels consistent with the central bank ’ s medium - term inflation objective – 2 percent on the personal consumption expenditures deflator in our case – is vitally important. once deflation expectations become well entrenched, it is very difficult to change them. and, because inflationary expectations are an important driver of actual inflation outcomes, deflationary expectations can be self - fulfilling in driving actual deflation outcomes. also, if inflation expectations were allowed to fall, this would raise the level of expected real interest rates, making monetary policy less accommodative. conversely, a central bank does not want medium - term inflation expectations to climb above levels consistent with its inflation objective. if inflation expectations were to become unanchored to the upside, that could damage credibility and result in higher risk premia for bis central bankers ’ speeches financial assets and tighter financial market conditions. thus, a policy that maintains medium - term inflation expectations in line with our inflation objective is most consistent with our mandate. 8 second, at the zero bound, the ability to provide credible forward guidance – both in terms of the future path of the policy rate and the future path of the balance sheet – becomes the predominant vehicle by which a central bank ’ s actions affect financial market conditions. if this expectations channel did not work, then it would be very difficult to provide additional monetary accommodation because short - term rates cannot be reduced materially. in the u. s., in recent months we have communicated that short - term rates are likely to stay very low for a long time ; our balance sheet is likely to increase further in size and then stay large for a long time ; and that we will not be

jack gutt : opening remarks - demographics are not destiny : fostering conditions to advance latino business growth opening remarks by mr jack gutt, executive vice president and head of the communications and outreach group of the federal reserve bank of new york, at " demographics are not destiny : fostering conditions to advance latino business growth ", new york city, 13 november 2018. * * * as prepared for delivery good morning and welcome to the new york fed for this important conversation on “ demographics are not destiny : fostering conditions to advance latino business growth. ” my name is jack gutt and i am fortunate to head the new york fed ’ s communications and outreach group. i ’ d like to thank all of my colleagues and our partners from the stanford latino entrepreneurship initiative ( slei ) and interise for their efforts in developing the report, “ latino owned businesses : shining a light on national trends, ” issued today, and for organizing this conference. i ’ d also like to thank all of you for joining us and our panelists for their participation. this is an impressive group and i, and my colleagues, very much look forward to hearing and learning from you. before going any further, i need to point out that what i say here today reflects my own views and not necessarily that of the new york fed or the federal reserve system. as i said at the outset, this is an important conversation. why? because, for the first time since launching the small business credit survey, we are able to identify and discuss the specific experiences of latino small business owners. and that, in turn, matters as latinos are the fastest growing demographic in our nation and latino - owned businesses are growing in number and importance. the total latino population in the united states was around 18 percent in 2017 and that number is expected to rise significantly in the coming decades. amid lagging business start - up rates, immigrant and latino business expansion has bolstered small business growth nationally, outpacing that of other demographic groups. between 2014 and 2016, latino - owned businesses grew by 13 % compared with less than 3 % for non - latino businesses. today, one in four new businesses is latino owned, contributing more than $ 700 billion in annual sales and employing millions of workers. on top of that, the latino population is among the youngest of all demographic groups and its entrepreneurial class is equally young. in fact, nearly half of latino owned businesses were started less than six years ago, all of which points to