after the pandemic recession which was exacerbated by russia ’ s invasion of ukraine. turning to the 3 - month change ( the right panel ) energy prices have been declining sharply recently and we expect them to continue to decline this year, reflecting the path of crude oil futures prices and the expectation that unusually elevated gasoline margins will, on average, decline over the remainder of this year. so, what do i take away from all this? i think there are practical implications for getting a clear picture of the economy and setting appropriate monetary policy, and also a reminder for me about the trust i bear as a public official. most practically, if i had focused on core inflation over the last two years and tended to look past increases for food and energy, and especially for housing, i would have missed an alarming increase in inflation, and reacted more slowly than my federal reserve colleagues and i appropriately did to start bringing down inflation. the federal open market committee raised interest rates more quickly than it had in more than forty years, and i think the progress we have made on inflation shows how important it was to act so urgently. just as importantly, excluding those prices would have neglected how much hardship this high inflation has been for many people, especially lower - income individuals and families. high inflation is a very different experience when you are effectively paying a higher rate than others, when a higher share of your expenses and income are spent on necessities, and when you have little in savings to draw on, as lower - income people do. when i talk about how important it is to win this inflation fight, it is partly in recognition of this inescapable reality for many millions of people. - 11 fortunately, there are signs that food, energy, and shelter prices will moderate this year. an important factor has been the federal reserve ’ s ongoing fight to lower inflation through tighter monetary policy. we are seeing that effort begin to pay off, but we have farther to go. and, it might be a long fight, with interest rates higher for longer than some are currently expecting. but i will not hesitate to do what is needed to get my job done. the inflation rate for necessities : a look at food, energy, and shelter inflation christopher j. waller member board of governors of the federal reserve system remarks at the 2023 agribusiness conference arkansas state university february 8, 2023 the views expressed here are my own and do not reflect those of the board of governors

olli rehn : remarks - bank of finland institute for emerging economies ’ ( bofit ) 30th anniversary dinner opening remarks by mr olli rehn, governor of the bank of finland, at bank of finland institute for emerging economies ’ ( bofit ) 30th anniversary dinner, helsinki, 9 november 2021. * * * ladies and gentlemen, your excellencies, dear friends and partners of bofit, may i wish you a very warm welcome to this anniversary dinner and to the bank of finland. i am delighted that you have been able to join us this evening to celebrate bofit ’ s 30th anniversary with us. we highly appreciate our partnership with you, in academia, the media and administration, a partnership that goes back many years. while bofit is a dynamic, no doubt cool and chillzoomer at 30, its home base – the bank of finland – is already a grown - up boomer at 210 years of age. in the global history of central banking, the bank of finland is certainly no novice. founded in 1811, the bank of finland is the fourth oldest central bank in the world today. only the swedish, british and french central banks are older than us. however, we could even make a claim to share sweden ’ s top position – its central bank, riksbanken, was founded in 1668 when finland was still firmly part of the kingdom of sweden! in fact, our best - known economist before the 2016 nobelist bengt holmstrom, was anders chydenius, who played a very active role in the economic policy debates of 18th century stockholm. he was so active in monetary policy that he was effectively sacked from the riksdagen, the swedish parliament, since he was calling for an end to the hard currency approach that was ruining the nation ’ s industries. no wonder he gained a reputation as a champion of free speech and freedom of expression! anyway, following its foundation the bank of finland played a catalyst role in the nation - building process in finland. autonomous institutions in economic and monetary policy - making were established in parallel with the evolution of an increasingly politically aware civil society and newspapers. these were followed by political and constitutional independence. and some decades later on friday 1 december 1939, the government of the winter war was essentially constructed on these very premises, on the second day of the war when helsinki was bombed by soviet planes. the decision was shaped in a meeting of vaino tanner, the great ” old mensh