mr greenspan discusses developments crucial to understanding the impressive economic record of the united states remarks by mr alan greenspan, chairman of the board of governors of the us federal reserve system, at the millennium lecture series, sponsored by the gerald r. ford foundation and grand valley state university at grand rapids, michigan on 8 september 1999 * * * thank you for your kind welcome to grand valley state university and the ford museum millennium lecture series. over the past quarter - century i have appeared on many platforms with president ford. he never seems to change, but i keep losing my hair. those of us who had the privilege to work closely in the white house with the 38th president of the united states gained a respect for his wisdom and integrity, not all of which came from his obvious good judgment in marrying betty. hence it has been a special pleasure for me, and my ford administration colleagues, to see our view of gerald ford increasingly being shared by the american people and the rest of the world. when i was invited to participate in this series of lectures complementing the remarkable exhibit entitled “ the american century, ” i was told to talk about anything i ’ d like. you will be pleased to know that i resisted the temptation to prepare a discourse on the statistical discrepancy between gross domestic product and gross domestic income. instead, given that we are at the tipping point of a new century, i decided to speak about several developments that strike me as crucial to understanding this country ’ s rather impressive economic record. it is safe to say that we are witnessing this decade, in the united states, history ’ s most compelling demonstration of the productive capacity of free peoples operating in free markets. i said earlier this year that members of the graduating class of 1999 are being bequeathed the tools for achieving a material existence that neither my generation nor any that preceded it could have even remotely imagined as we began our life ’ s work. the quintessential manifestations of america ’ s industrial might earlier this century – large steel mills, auto assembly plants, petrochemical complexes, and skyscrapers – have been replaced by a gross domestic product that has been downsized as ideas have replaced physical bulk and effort as creators of value. today, economic value is best symbolized by exceedingly complex, miniaturized integrated circuits and the ideas – the software – that utilize them. most of what we currently perceive as value and wealth is intellectual and impalpable. the american economy, clearly more than most, is in

a dynamic financial system, and our stress - testing process must be dynamic as well. more broadly, the core of the federal reserve ’ s independence is a broad consensus around the 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches value and public worth of our mission. the federal reserve is the steward and trustee of that mission, but the public is its owner. to serve the public, we must not just allow input, but welcome it ; not just permit debate, but foster it ; not just allow participation, but treat it as essential to our work. thank you. 1 pub. l. no. 305 ( 1935 ). 2 board of governors of the federal reserve system, “ treasury and federal reserve statements, ” federal reserve bulletin 37 ( march 1951 ) : 237. 3 see board of governors of the federal reserve system, diversity and inclusion strategic plan 2016 – 19 ( washington : board of governors, december 2016 ). 4 see board of governors of the federal reserve system, “ advisory councils ” ( january 25, 2019 ). 5 board of governors of the federal reserve system, financial stability report ( pdf ) ( washington : board of governors, november 2018 ) ; board of governors of the federal reserve system, federal reserve supervision and regulation report ( washington : board of governors, november 2018 ). 6 the fomc ’ s “ statement on longer - run goals and monetary policy strategy, ” first issued in january 2012 and reaffirmed each january, specifies that the committee judges that inflation at the rate of 2 percent, as measured by the annual change in the price index for personal consumption expenditures, is most consistent over the longer run with the federal reserve ’ s statutory mandate and that the committee would be concerned if inflation were running persistently above or below this objective. 7 board of governors of the federal reserve system, “ federal reserve board releases scenarios for 2019 comprehensive capital analysis and review ( ccar ) and dodd - frank act stress test exercises, ” news release, february 5, 2018. 8 see board of governors of the federal reserve system, federal deposit insurance corporation, and office of the comptroller of the currency, “ interagency statement regarding the impact of the economic growth, regulatory relief, and consumer protection act ( egrrcpa ) ( pdf ), ” news release, july 6, 2018. 9 changes proposed as part of the economic growth, regulatory relief, and consumer protection act have been proposed but not finalized. similarly, changes as part of the proposed “ stress capital buffer