ben s bernanke : introduction of the new $ 100 note brief remarks by mr ben s bernanke, chairman of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the new $ 100 note unveiling event, us treasury department, washington dc, 21 april 2010. * * * thank you, madame treasurer. a sound currency is the bedrock of a sound economy. therefore, the united states government must stay ahead of counterfeiters and protect the integrity of our currency. the three agencies represented here today all share this important responsibility, and today we come together to unveil the latest phase in our efforts – the new design for the $ 100 note. since the u. s. notes first issued by the treasury department in 1862, our national currency has played an integral role in the fortunes of our country. the federal reserve only assumed responsibility for issuing u. s. currency following the passage of the federal reserve act in 1913. as our nation ’ s central bank, we have a wide range of responsibilities related to paper money, from ensuring an adequate supply to protecting and maintaining confidence in our currency. together with our partners at the treasury department, its bureau of engraving and printing, and the united states secret service, we continuously monitor the counterfeiting threats for each denomination, and make redesign decisions based on these threats. this job has become more complex in recent years as technology advances and u. s. dollar flows expand and increase. in just the past 25 years, the value of federal reserve notes in circulation has grown from $ 180 billion to $ 890 billion, an increase of almost 400 percent. and while in the past, most u. s. dollars were held domestically, today many of these notes circulate outside of our borders. in fact, we estimate that as many as two - thirds of all $ 100 notes circulate outside the united states. for this reason, we must ensure that the people around the world who rely on the $ 100 note are educated about changes that we make to its design. we will unveil the new design for the $ 100 note in just a few moments and the federal reserve will begin putting these notes into circulation on february 10, 2011. in the intervening months the federal reserve, together with our partners represented here today, will reach out to businesses and consumers all over the world to raise awareness about the new design and explain how to use its security features. this global public education program is crucial to the successful introduction of

a more profound panic phenomenon. market participants wonder whether the forms of financial intermediation and functions of financial institutions – long connecting savers with investors – will be implemented in a manner that will enhance, or reduce, economic well - being. some are questioning the efficacy of the remaining vestiges of the existing financial architecture and remain uncertain of the timing, efficacy, and policy preferences for the financial architecture that will ultimately emerge. surely, they applaud the goal of policymakers to reform the financial system to make it more durable through the cycle and less susceptible to shocks. but some query whether policy actions are, on balance, lessening or stoking panic conditions. articles of faith headlines have been dominated in recent weeks by the legal rules that govern contracts. to be sure, markets function best when economic actors comport themselves in a manner consistent with the rule of law. 10 fidelity to the rule of law is not just some aphorism for a judicial system to protect property right disputes among private parties. nor should it be just some preachy truism of economic development for emerging economies. rather, it is the linchpin of modern market economies like ours. and it suffers its greatest blow when the governing authorities are unwilling to uphold their end of the bargain. nonetheless, despite some highly publicized suggestions to the contrary, i remain highly confident that the government will work tirelessly to uphold its obligations. hewing to the rule of law, however, may be the easier part. the panic bred by the loss of confidence in the underlying financial architecture is difficult to remedy beyond the purview of statutes and regulations. a weighty accumulation of unwritten, but no less critical, practices and understandings governs behavior and establishes expectations in market economies. over time, these informal understandings attract deep and loyal followings by economic actors. they become articles of faith. deviations from them tend not to be illegal, but they can markedly change perceptions of risk and return. when that happens, the resulting expectations are unmoored, with significant and often highly detrimental consequences for market functioning and economic progress. panics can thus be understood as periods in which key articles of faith are cast in doubt. how does this happen? after long periods of economic prosperity – in the most recent case, the so - called great moderation – articles of faith accumulate. some of these understandings the global equity markets underperformed those in the united states. the dow jones global index fell 15 percent from