jens weidmann : the future of the european monetary union speech by dr jens weidmann, president of the deutsche bundesbank and chairman of the board of directors of the bank for international settlements, at the ihk rhein - neckar new year's reception, mannheim, 31 january 2019. * * * 1 introduction mr schnabel, mr von pentz, ladies and gentlemen, many thanks for your invitation and your kind welcome. tradition has it that speeches at new year ’ s receptions look ahead at the topics we will be facing over the coming twelve months. and the speech i will be delivering here today is no exception. but before i look forward towards what the future might hold, let me reflect briefly on an event which took place almost 50 years ago to the day. it was on 30 january 1969, to be precise. what i would give to have been strolling down london ’ s savile row during my lunch break on what was, like today, a chilly thursday. passers - by could hardly believe their ears. music was blaring from the rooftop of house number 3. but it wasn ’ t just any old music – it was the beatles, and they were playing live1. by this point in their career, the beatles hadn ’ t given a live concert for more than two years, having decided to concentrate on their work in the studio. recordings for the fab four ’ s latest lp, which would later be released under the title let it be, were being videotaped, and the highlight of the documentary was to be a live concert at a spectacular location. but the band ended up simply performing a concert on the roof of their headquarters. what no - one suspected at the time was that it would be the last time the beatles ever performed live. 50 years ago, then, saw the end of a musical era that we still hold dear today. and that ’ s why the beatles will pop up at various points during my speech here today. at first glance, the fab four wouldn ’ t immediately appear to have all that much in common with central bank topics. that said, raghuram rajan, the former chief economist of the international monetary fund, does see some parallels between music and monetary policy. a few years ago, he said : “ central bankers nowadays enjoy the popularity of rock stars. ” now, i ’ m not aware of any colleagues whose public appearances send the audience as wild as john

michelle w bowman : brief remarks - fed listens event on transitioning to the post - pandemic economy brief remarks by ms michelle w bowman, member of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the fed listens event on transitioning to the postpandemic economy, boston, massachusetts, 31 may 2023. * * * it is very good to be here, and to be part of this fed listens event and discussion about the effects of the pandemic experience on the u. s. economy, highlighting challenges in the labor and housing markets. while there are many ways to think about the impact of these effects, i find it helpful to consider both the cyclical or temporary factors and those that are structural and longer term. as monetary policymakers, we are primarily focused on the cyclical mattersmeaning how the pandemic and the measures taken to address it complicated accomplishing our dual - mandate objectives of maximum employment and stable prices. making the best monetary policy decisions over the business cycle requires distinguishing between temporary effects and lasting, structural changes. today's agenda includes the employment recovery following the high unemployment during the spring of 2020 leading to the current tight labor market. today's labor market strength reflects policy decisions taken in light of the pandemic experience, including the widespread lockdowns, reliance upon remote work, and other factors that may have structurally altered the labor market. i am very much looking forward to the discussion. i also look forward to learning from the perspectives of today's participants from around new england about the issues that will be discussed today. i find it especially helpful to participate in regional discussions to broaden my understanding of economic conditions throughout the country. this local perspective is one of the great advantages of the federal reserve system's regional structure, and of the fed listens initiative, which complements the board's efforts to understand national economic conditions. in 2019, the board launched fed listens with a year of listening sessions with the public focused on monetary policy and, specifically, on how the federal open market committee uses interest rates and other tools to promote a healthy economy. while data can tell us a lot, learning about the experiences behind those data helps bring economic data to life for me and for my colleagues. through fed listens and other engagements with the public, we hear about how americans are faring in the economy and about how our policy decisions affect individuals, businesses, and communities. so our efforts to enhance