2 the study spells out the relative advantages of different types of funds for different kinds of projects — preservation versus development, for example — and details which funds are best for the early, middle, or late stages of a project. turning to support for small businesses, community development staffers across the federal reserve conduct extensive research and analysis of the challenges and opportunities facing small business owners. for example, the 12 federal reserve banks collaborate on the annual small business credit survey, which surveys business owners about their financing needs and experiences to provide timely insights to policymakers, service providers, and lenders. 3 in addition to providing information on small business credit conditions, the federal reserve is trying to advance understanding of the best economic development strategies for supporting small businesses. the kansas city fed has helped lead on these issues through its “ grow your own ” entrepreneurship - based economic development guidebook, and its 2018 growing entrepreneurial communities summit. 4 these are just a few of the ways that federal reserve banks and the board of governors support the efforts of community development organizations. i hope that our work will be useful as you chart a path forward for your second decade of service to utah, and i look forward to continued collaboration between the federal reserve and community development organizations such as ucns. together, we can help support thriving communities across the wasatch front, the state of utah, and across our nation. thank you again for inviting me to speak, and congratulations again for 10 years of building stronger communities in utah. 1234 1 ucns is the parent organization of four separate organizations that, in combination, work to advance access to affordable housing, including homeownership and housing near high - capacity or high - frequency transit ; support economic development and job creation by funding small businesses ; and improve access to important community infrastructure. 2 2. elizabeth mattiuzzi, “ funds for kickstarting affordable housing preservation and production : lessons for new investors, ” community development research briefs ( san francisco : federal reserve bank of san francisco, march 2019 ). return to text 3 see www. fedsmallbusiness. org / for more information. 4 the guidebook is available at www. kansascityfed. org / ~ / media / files / publicat / community / gyo / entrepreneurship - econ - dev - local - communities. pdf. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

roger w. ferguson, jr : understanding financial consolidation remarks by mr roger w. ferguson, jr., vice chairman of the federal reserve board, at a conference sponsored by the securities industry association and the university of north carolina school of law, new york, new york, 27 february 2001 * * * good afternoon. it is my pleasure to speak to you today, and i thank the securities industry association and the university of north carolina school of law for inviting me to participate in this conference. consolidation of all types of business activities has been a prominent feature of the economic landscape for at least the past decade. the financial sector has participated actively in this development. indeed, the last few years have witnessed an acceleration of consolidation among financial institutions. thus, your choice of topics for this afternoon's session is a timely one. in recognition of the importance of this marketplace evolution, and especially its potential effects on a wide range of public policies, the finance ministers and central bank governors of the group of ten nations in september 1999 commissioned a major study of the possible effects of financial consolidation on matters of policy concern to central banks and finance ministries in the g - 10. this study, which i was privileged to direct, was released to the public late last month. today i would like to discuss the study's major findings and their implications. before reviewing these findings, however, let me make a few comments about current economic conditions. as always, the views i will be expressing are my own and are not necessarily shared by other members of the board of governors or of the federal open market committee. current economic conditions recent data on the u. s. economy confirm that a significant deceleration in activity has occurred. our economy is clearly undergoing a stock adjustment to bring the supply of and demand for inventory and capital goods in some sectors into better alignment. one key question is : when will the stock adjustment run its course? unfortunately, this question is not answerable with certainty at this stage. the predominant risk remains that growth will be notably slower than would be consistent with the economy realizing its full potential over time. one factor pointing to a risk of unacceptably slow growth is the uncertainty about consumer sentiment, which has been a feature of the recent period. it is therefore useful to explore more deeply economists'understanding of consumer confidence. usually, consumer sentiment closely mirrors contemporaneous economic conditions, and it generally moves closely with the growth in household spending. not surprisingly, the key influences on household spending,