were coupled with the adoption of a set of provisions for dealing with unanticipated budgetary outcomes over time. as you are well aware, budget outcomes in the past have deviated from projections - in some cases, significantly - and they will continue to do so. accordingly, a well - designed set of mechanisms that facilitate midcourse corrections would ease the task of bringing the budget back into line when it goes off track. in particular, you might want to require that existing programs be assessed regularly to verify that they continue to meet their stated purposes and cost projections. measures that automatically take effect when costs for a particular spending program or tax provision exceed a specified threshold may prove useful as well. the original design of the budget enforcement act could also be enhanced by addressing how the strictures might evolve if and when reasonable fiscal balance came into view. i do not mean to suggest that the nation's budget problems will be solved simply by adopting a new set of rules. the fundamental fiscal issue is the need to make difficult choices among budget priorities, and this need is becoming ever more pressing in light of the unprecedented number of individuals approaching retirement age. for example, future congresses and presidents will, over time, have to weigh the benefits of continued access, on current terms, to advances in medical technology against other spending priorities as well as against tax initiatives that foster increases in economic growth and the revenue base. because the baby boomers have not yet started to retire in force, we have been in a demographic lull. but this state of relative stability will soon end. in 2008 - just three years from now - the leading edge of the baby - boom generation will reach 62, the earliest age at which social security retirement benefits can be drawn and the age at which about half of those eligible to claim benefits have been doing so in recent years. just three years after that, in 2011, the oldest baby boomers will reach 65 and will thus be eligible for medicare. currently, 3 - 1 / 4 workers contribute to the social security system for each beneficiary. under the intermediate assumptions of the program's trustees, the number of beneficiaries will have roughly doubled by 2030, and the ratio of covered workers to beneficiaries will be down to about 2. the pressures on the budget from this dramatic demographic change will be exacerbated by those stemming from the anticipated steep upward trend in spending per medicare beneficiary. the combination of an aging population and

, having an openness to innovation, and considering policy choices that enable integration of financial technology in the banking and financial system. year - after - year, this event provides an opportunity for us to come together to engage and learn about fintech issues, keeping an eye toward the future. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches but we must recognize that the success and growth of this conference is due to the leadership and vision of president harker. for those who may not be aware, at the end of june next year, president harker will reach the federal reserve retirement requirements, and unfortunately, this will be his final fintech conference as president and ceo of the philadelphia fed. i want to congratulate pat on the creation and success of this conference, and to look forward to the ongoing and future legacy he has created for the philadelphia reserve bank with this event. president harker is, by his own admission, an " accidental economist. " he's an engineer first and, in fact, came to the field of economics through an engineering issue that required economics to solve. well, as someone who has sat at the federal open market committee conference table with president harker for the past six years, i can attest to this approach - he enlists this engineering perspective to assist in understanding economic issues. that methodical approach to issues, and his willingness to look deep under the proverbial hood, is his hallmark at the philadelphia fed. through his leadership, the bank has built strong partnerships with communities throughout the third district who know they can rely on this institution for expert knowledge and data research that are critical to working through local concerns. it was also under his leadership that the philadelphia fed's consumer finance institute took its current shape. today, the institute's multidisciplinary approach to issuesbringing together economists, industry and regulatory experts, and community development specialists - is redefining our understanding of consumer credit and payments. and, he has positioned the philadelphia fed as a true thought leader in technology and innovation, and in the application of both hard and soft data. this conference is just the most public example of this. his decision, nearly a decade ago, to give the green light to a conference specifically geared to fintech proves that president harker is clearly standing in the center of the intersection of engineering and economics. so, while i do not wish to detract from any of our speakers, panelists, and presenters today