we face the following trilemma : we cannot have all three things at once : ( a ) full, global market liberalisation, ( b ) national sovereignty, and ( c ) democracy. we must choose two of these three, and give one up. 1 if we choose full economic globalisation, without any obstacles to free trade, then we must give up either our national sovereignty or our democratic ability to oppose global rules. for example, if we give up democracy, an autocratic ruler could decree that everyone has to accept the global 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches rules. if we give up national sovereignty, we could have a global democracy. i think it is fair to say that we would rather not give up democracy or national sovereignty. what remains is to limit market liberalisation, where our societies deem this necessary. this is not a convenient truth, because it means we have to look for answers in less clear waters : we need to find those areas where global cooperation and harmonisation is sensible, and how far it can go. this strategy must then go hand in hand with more national autonomy for finding domestic solutions to national challenges. given these constraints, a realistic middle ground would be focused global cooperation : continuing to cooperate and to harmonise regulations, where possible – but also focusing and improving our efforts. focused global cooperation would also offer greater scope for solutions that respect the legitimate interests of countries wanting to run their economies independently. 3. brexit i ’ d like to discuss briefly what focused cooperation would mean for brexit negotiations and the future relationship between the european union and britain. i think it is fair to say that we are searching intently for a workable solution that ensures friendly collaboration. yet the scope of possible solutions is limited by the british decision for a hard brexit, as well as by the eu ’ s understandable prerogative to prevent cherry - picking. one of the possible scenarios we now have to imagine is making cooperation possible in two legally distinct jurisdictions, with different legal frameworks. this would mean that firms would have to comply with partially - differing rules. to continue serving their clients in the other jurisdiction, it might be wise for banks to check if it is viable to open branches or subsidiaries in the respective economic area. in such a scenario, close coordination between supervisors becomes crucial. when regulations differ, it is our responsibility as supervisors to facilitate cross - border activity without imposing undue operational burdens. the fact that sam woods and i are

john c williams : the economic outlook - getting back to " more like normal " remarks ( via videoconference ) by mr john c williams, president and chief executive officer of the federal reserve bank of new york, at one hundred black men of new york, 25 february 2021. * * * hello, everyone. i ’ m really pleased to be joining your meeting today. your work in bringing together leaders and visionaries in support of black communities across our city is invaluable. we ’ re approaching the one - year mark since the pandemic took hold. at this time last year there was an increasing sense of fear and uncertainty about the future. and the events since then have posed tremendous challenges to families, communities, and the economy. the ongoing human toll is a tragedy we won ’ t forget in our lifetimes. what has been an extraordinary public health crisis also has had profound consequences for the american and global economies. the cause of this recession — a global pandemic — means that our economic future will be determined in large part by the path of the virus and our collective success in overcoming it. we still face many hurdles on the road to recovery from both covid - 19 and the severe economic hardship that has ensued. a lot depends on the success in quickly getting a large part of the public vaccinated against a backdrop of the spread of emerging new strains of the virus. despite these challenges and uncertainties, i have become more optimistic about the mediumterm outlook for the economy. i don ’ t expect our lives to look like they did a year ago — our sense of “ normal ” may be forever altered — but with vaccinations well underway and a significant decline nationwide in confirmed new cases, i do expect that we can start to look toward a time that will be “ more like normal. " in my remarks today i ’ ll set the scene for the economic picture locally, and for the u. s. economy as a whole. i ’ ll also highlight some of the disparities we are seeing in the labor market. finally, i ’ ll share more about the federal reserve ’ s response and how i view the path forward. before i continue, i need to give the standard fed disclaimer that the views i express today are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the federal open market committee ( fomc ) or others in the federal reserve system. dual mandate prior to sharing the outlook, i think it ’ s