of housing and the overall cost of living in california and new york are significantly higher than they are here. and due to differences in policies governing education, the scores measuring middle - school students ’ proficiency in math are lower in both california and new york than they are in texas, and in reading, are lower in california and only slightly higher in new york. 5 taken together, these factors, alongside whatever natural advantages we may enjoy ( though it is hard to compete with the physical beauty of california and the great lakes region or the cultural splendor of new york ), affect where firms choose to locate and hire and where people choose to raise their families and seek jobs. see the nation ’ s report card, http : / / nationsreportcard. gov. bis central bankers ’ speeches i would argue that an additional factor favors texas : we have a legislature that under both democratic and republican governors has over time deliberately crafted laws and regulations, and tax and spending regimes, encouraging business formation and job creation. just last month, fairfield, calif. - based vehicle reseller copart inc. announced that it will move its headquarters to texas, citing “ greater operational efficiencies. ” 6 the ceo for the owner of hardee ’ s and carl ’ s jr. restaurants, andy puzder, claims it takes six months to two years to secure permits in california to build a new carl ’ s jr., whereas in texas, it takes six weeks. these two anecdotes from california alone clearly illustrate that firms and jobs will go to where it is easiest to do business – not where it is less convenient and more costly. both state and federal authorities need to bear this in mind as they plot changes in the fiscal and regulatory policy needed to restore the job - creating engine of america. as an official of the federal reserve charged with making monetary policy for the country as a whole, i am constantly mindful that investment and job - creating capital is free to roam not only within the united states, but to any place on earth where it will earn the best risk - adjusted return. if other countries with stable governments offer more attractive tax and regulatory environments, capital that would otherwise go to creating jobs in the u. s. a. will migrate abroad, just as intra - u. s. investment is migrating to texas. thus, even if one were to somehow have 100 percent certainty about the future course of federal reserve policy and be completely comfortable with it, without greater clarity

jean - claude trichet : 18th frankfurt european banking congress statement by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the ecb, at the 18th frankfurt european banking congress, frankfurt am main, 21 november 2008. * * * ladies and gentlemen, this year ’ s european banking congress takes place at a very challenging point in time. today ’ s event is therefore a particularly important one. it is a pleasure to be here amid so many distinguished participants and to be joined on this panel by my central bank colleagues from brazil and the united arab emirates. we are at a critical juncture as far as the set - up and functioning of the international financial system is concerned. the current financial crisis was triggered by a widespread and substantial undervaluation of risk. when the crisis erupted in august 2007, it was at first a systemic threat to the liquidity of the financial system, which mainly affected advanced economies. in mid - september of this year the crisis deteriorated very significantly and turned into a systemic threat to the solvency of important parts of the global financial system. it is no longer limited to advanced economies and is instead also affecting emerging economies. in addition, it has spilled over from the financial sphere to the real economy. global challenges call for global responses. policy - makers across the globe have responded and are taking appropriate action to contain and alleviate the crisis. central banks are playing a pivotal role in this regard, providing the necessary liquidity – sometimes in ways that were scarcely imaginable up until a few months ago – in order to ensure that financial markets and institutions can continue to function. as far as the ecb is concerned, i would like to point out once again that we have acted decisively from the very beginning of the turmoil in august of last year. at that time, when the threat to the liquidity of the financial system first emerged, we provided the system with no less than eur 95 billion of liquidity within a few hours. later that year, the ecb also began to supply liquidity to european counterparties in us dollars through swap arrangements which we established with the federal reserve. since october of this year, we have been granting full allotments in our monetary operations. these are only some of the key measures taken by the ecb in order to support financial markets, and you see from the design of these measures that some of them are literally without precedent. * * * at the same time as we are dealing with the current crisis, we also need to look