payments. recognizing the vibrancy of our payment industry, the addition of the fednow service could provide a springboard for broader private - sector participation in the development of innovative end - user services. looking forward with the announcement of the federal reserve real - time payment service, we are embracing a path that will bring transformative, rather than incremental, change to the retail payment infrastructure in the united states. the fednow service will run continuously at all times of the day, every day of the week, consistent with the needs of faster payments and will be designed to process large volumes of payments rapidly. in the months ahead, we intend to explore a variety of approaches to achieving a real - time retail payment infrastructure with nationwide reach. one such approach might be for different payment services to interoperate by exchanging payments among the services directly. such interoperability is an important goal that we will pursue as standards, technology, and industry practices change over time, although it is not yet clear whether it will be an initial feature. the federal reserve plans to devote the necessary resources to deliver the highest quality fednow service in a timely manner. we are working to streamline our internal processes to move quickly in the market. president george will play an integral role in this new process, and the conference of reserve bank presidents has pledged its support. it is important for the federal reserve, working with the payment industry, to act quickly in finalizing the initial business requirements of the fednow service. we will need to hear the views of payment system stakeholders on the features of the fednow service, as discussed in the federal register notice announced today. we will engage with the industry through groups and forums to finalize the design and features of the service. we hope that these conversations will provide an opportunity for stakeholders to work together to shape the evolution of the u. s. payment system. earlier this month, i joined my reserve bank colleagues for a visit with bankers and community organizations in scranton, pennsylvania, to hear about the biggest challenges they are facing. the head of a bank that has been serving the scranton area for more than a century told me that for his community bank to remain competitive in its payment offerings, it is vital to be able to rely on the federal reserve for real - time payments just as he does for check, ach, and wire transfer. i appreciate the importance of community banks to the economic health of our communities, and i recognize the role of the federal reserve in enabling community

that access to the international capital market has, on balance, bestowed enormous benefits on participating countries, particularly developing countries. the world is a much better place when it is outward looking - historical epochs where large international transfers of capital were taking place were those where living standards around the world were rising fastest and where poverty declined most. i, for one, would be saddened if a number of countries responded to the current turmoil in international markets by cutting themselves off from the international marketplace thereby forgoing the benefits that the use of foreign savings can bring. it goes without saying that australia is completely happy with its policy of permitting the free movement of international capital and sees no case for any change. on the other hand, it is simplistic to insist on the totally free movement of capital in all countries and in all circumstances. to do so would be to ignore the lesson from recent crises, to further risk the stability of the system and to invite a reaction which would make us all worse off. we need to devise a system for maximising the benefits to be gained from international capital while limiting the risks. for example, i think chile was probably quite wise, and certainly within its rights, for a time to impose a tax on capital inflow which impinged most severely on very short - term flows. ( note, however, that chile did not impose controls on outflow. ) like chile, the world economy has to reach a proper balance, and i think there is increasing recognition that it will involve a few trade - offs. within developed countries, a number of institutions have been designed to encourage investment and risk - taking - the joint stock company, the concept of limited liability, bankruptcy laws and, of course, central banks as lenders of last resort. these are all accepted as necessary parts of a developed financial system, and help provide the right balance between encouraging enterprise while at the same time preventing individual financial distress from turning into widespread financial panic. all these things, by the way, have the by - product of creating an element of moral hazard. internationally, on the other hand, despite all the talk of globalisation, a borderless world and the integration of financial markets, there has been a reluctance to go very far down the path of finding an international equivalent to the bankruptcy laws or the lender of last resort. the main objections have traditionally been that it would interfere with the free movement of capital and that it would create a moral hazard. that attitude now appears to be changing