living standards and populations, but growth in both was glacial. in the fifteenth century, the great mass of people were engaged in the same productive practices as those of their forebears many generations earlier. smith lived at a time when market forces were beginning to erode the rigidities of the remaining feudal and medieval practices and the mercantilism that followed them. influenced by the ideas and events of the reformation, which helped undermine the concept of the divine right of kings, a view of individuals acting independently of ecclesiastic and state restraint emerged in the early part of the eighteenth century. for the first time, modern notions of political and economic freedom began to gain traction. those ideas, associated with the age of enlightenment, especially in england, scotland, and france, gave rise to a vision of a society in which individuals guided by reason were free to choose their destinies unshackled from repressive restrictions and custom. what we now know as the rule of law - namely protection of the rights of individuals and their property - widened, encouraging people to increase their efforts to produce, trade, and innovate. a whole new system of enterprise began to develop, which, though it seemed bewildering in its complexity and consequences, appeared nonetheless to possess a degree of stability as if guided by an " invisible hand. " the french physiocrats, among others, struggled in the middle of the eighteenth century to develop rudimentary principles to untangle that conundrum. those principles were an attempt to explain how an economy governed by a calculable regularity - that is, natural law and, as characterized by the physiocrat vincent de tournay, " laissez - faire, laissez - passer " - would function. the physiocrats'influence, however, waned rapidly along with the influence of other political economists as evidence grew that their models were, at best, incomplete. j. m. keynes, the general theory of employment, interest, and money, 1936, p. 383. it was left to adam smith to identify the more - general set of principles that brought conceptual clarity to the seeming chaos of market transactions. in 1776, smith produced one of the great achievements in human intellectual history : an inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. most of smith's free - market paradigm remains applicable to this day. smith was doubtless inspired by the physiocrats

. our research is conducted in accordance with data principles recognizing the important responsibilities associated with collecting and analyzing indigenous data to ensure that indigenous data sovereignty and governance are respected. the third, and perhaps most important, is empowerment. our research and programs enable our reserve banks to assist indigenous communities through information and resources to plan their own economic futures. for example, our native economic and financial education empowerment program works with indigenous communities to provide free economic and personal finance education that incorporates indigenous language and culture. our working communities challenge facilitates local collaboration to increase economic opportunity in rural areas. this program serves as a first - of - its - kind venue to connect tribal leaders, nonprofit organizations, and private - and public - sector leaders around economic development efforts. most recently, leaders convened to understand data gaps across the full partnership and how they can better leverage data across organizations as they work toward expanding the number of living - wage jobs and reducing rates of childhood poverty within the community. indigenous voices and perspectives are a critical part of this effort. we're also developing new data tools and research partnerships that help indigenous communities conduct research on economic opportunities. for example, our native american funding and finance atlas is a publicly available interactive map tool that identifies the financial institutions, lending activity, and economic development programs in their tribal community and surrounding areas. i'm proud of the federal reserve system's efforts to further indigenous financial inclusion, and i'm grateful for this opportunity to learn from the dedicated efforts of our network partners. there is so much important and impactful work happening, and i look forward to the progress that we will continue to make together. thank you. 1 the views here expressed are my own and not necessarily those of my colleagues on the board of governors of the federal reserve system or at the reserve banks. return to text 4 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches