richard w fisher : beer goggles, monetary camels, the eye of the needle and the first law of holes remarks by mr richard w fisher, president and chief executive officer of the federal reserve bank of dallas, before the national association of corporate directors, dallas, texas, 14 january 2014. * * * with reference to peter boockvar, the book of matthew, sherlock holmes, “ the wolf of wall street ” and denis healey. the views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect official positions of the federal reserve system. thank you, george [ jones ]. george is a great member of the dallas fed board of directors, and i am honored he would take the time to introduce me. waylon jennings said of your namesake that “ if we could all sound like we wanted to, we ’ d all sound like george jones. ” 1 i often feel that way about george at our board meetings. he gives a sharp, crisp, spot - on briefing of banking conditions in that deep, beautiful voice of his and i always think : i want to be just like george when i grow up. again, thank you george for that kind introduction. during the holiday break, i spent a good deal of time trying to organize my thoughts on how i will approach monetary policy going forward. today, i am going to share some of those thoughts that might be of interest to you as corporate directors. at the last meeting of the federal open market committee ( fomc ), it was decided that the amount of treasuries and mortgage - backed securities ( mbs ) we have been purchasing should each be pared back by $ 5 billion, so that we would be purchasing a total of $ 75 billion a month ( in addition to reinvesting the proceeds of maturing issues we hold ) rather than $ 85 billion per month. in addition, it was noted that “ if incoming information broadly supports the committee ’ s expectation ( s ) … the committee will likely reduce the pace of asset purchases in further measured steps at future meetings. ” and it was made clear that the fomc expects it will hold the base rate that anchors the yield curve – the federal funds rate, or the rate on overnight money – to its present near - zero rate well past the time when unemployment is reduced to 6½ percent. i was pleased with the decision to finally begin tapering our bond purchases, though i would have preferred to pull back our purchases by double the announced amount. but the

richard w fisher : “ never let your brains go to your head ” ( with reference to the sages of the ages, diana sorensen, john paul jones and “ babe ” fisher ) address by mr richard w fisher, president and chief executive officer of the federal reserve bank of dallas, for the 151st commencement, bryant university, smithfield, rhode island, 17 may 2014. * * * the views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect official positions of the federal reserve system. before i begin my formal remarks, i want the candidates for degrees to think about the fact that over 5, 000 people are here today to celebrate your success. these are your parents and grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts ; your brothers and sisters ; your friends ; your teachers and coaches and counselors. they have been by your side through joyful moments and less - joyful ones. they have encouraged you. they have believed in you. and they have occasionally badgered and hectored you and … driven you nuts. all to good effect. they are here with glad and happy hearts to celebrate your admission to the society of educated men and women. you will be applauded by them many times today. but i want you, the graduating class, to turn the table on them and give them a round of applause. so stand up, turn around, put your hands together and give them a cheer. thank them for loving you. now, please be seated. i also want to salute the outgoing chairman of the bryant university board of trustees, michael edward fisher, ’ 67. i want to thank him not only for his six years as chairman and for his total devotion to bryant, but also for doing his family proud – especially his little brother … me. blessed to be americans mike fisher and i grew up in what can most charitably be described as “ unusual circumstances ”. our father started out his life in conditions right out of charles dickens : at the age of 5 years and 2 months, he was arrested for begging for food and sentenced to seven years in australia ’ s harshest prison, a god - awful place called westbrook reformatory. 1 he was spared the destiny of most inmates there – he was released quickly and lived to see better days – but to say he grew up rough is an understatement. our mother, born in a small south african outpost where norwegians, swedes and danes carved a life out of the “ bush ”, lost her father