mr. greenspan comments on the importance of technological development and the value of education for economic growth in the united states remarks by the chairman of the us federal reserve system, mr. alan greenspan, at the building dedication ceremonies at the kenan - flagler business school, university of north carolina on 12 / 9 / 97. i welcome the opportunity to join dean fulton, president broad, president emeritus spangler, chancellor hooker, hugh mccoll, and the many other distinguished guests on the podium today. it isn ’ t every day that we have the opportunity to dedicate a new building devoted to the research and training that our young people need for conducting business in a global setting. this new facility - - the mccoll bulding - - has been equipped with state - of - the - art information technology that will enhance the ability of the faculty and students of kenan - flagler to prepare for an exciting future in our global economy. the university has made this important commitment at a time when our businesses and workers are confronting a dynamic set of forces that will influence our nation ’ s ability to compete worldwide in the years ahead. one of the most central of these forces is the rapid acceleration of computer and telecommunications technologies, which can be reasonably expected to appreciably raise our standard of living in the twenty - first century. in the short run, however, the fallout from rapidly changing technology is an environment in which the stock of plant and equipment with which most managers and workers interact is turning over increasingly rapidly, rendering a perception that human skills are becoming obsolete at a rate perhaps unprecedented in american history. i shall endeavor to place this most unusual phenomenon in the context of the broader changes in our economy and, hopefully, explain why the value of education, especially to enhance advanced skills, is so vital to the future growth of our economy. wealth has always been created, virtually by definition, when individuals use their growing knowledge to interact with an expanding capital stock to produce goods and services of value. assisted by the whole array of market prices, entrepreneurs seek to identify the types of products and services that individuals will value, especially the added value placed on products and services that customers find better tailored to their particular needs, delivered in shorter time frames, or improved in quality. this striving to unbundle the particular characteristics of goods and services in order to maximize their value to each individual inevitably results in the shift toward value created through the exploitation of ideas and concepts, rather than simply the utilization of

janet l yellen : the outlook for the us economy and economic policy speech by ms janet l yellen, vice chair of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the 2011 annual meeting of the financial management association international, denver, colorado, 21 october 2011. * * * for more than 40 years, the financial management association international has promoted the advancement of knowledge about financial decisionmaking and its dissemination to practitioners worldwide. the association ’ s efforts benefit not only private - sector participants in financial markets, but also policymakers in central banks and governments who strive to ensure that the financial system works effectively to support global economic growth. as one of the many beneficiaries of the association ’ s work, i am honored to receive this year ’ s outstanding financial executive award. my comments today will focus on recent economic and financial market developments, along with their implications for the outlook and for economic policy. i will begin by pointing out that, although the u. s. economy continues to grow, the recovery has been proceeding at a disappointingly slow pace. moreover, slow growth leaves the economy vulnerable to downside shocks, such as the potential for adverse developments in global financial markets. i then will discuss ways that monetary policy and fiscal policy can support the economic recovery and address these risks to the expansion. let me note at the outset that these remarks reflect my own views and not necessarily those of others in the federal reserve system. the us economic outlook since the middle of 2009, the u. s. economy has been recovering from the most severe recession and financial crisis to afflict our country since the great depression. certainly, conditions have improved in a number of ways during these past two years : output growth has resumed, and private - sector employment has risen about 2 - 1 / 2 million since payrolls troughed in early 2010. industrial production has generally advanced solidly, business investment in equipment and software continues to rise briskly, and u. s. exports have grown at a robust pace. in addition, financial market functioning is much better than in the depths of the crisis ; the quantity and quality of capital and the size of liquidity buffers in the banking system have improved significantly ; nonfinancial business balance sheets are mostly in solid shape ; and credit conditions, although still tight, have eased somewhat for many businesses and households. despite these improvements, the pace of the economic recovery has been less vigorous than any of us would have desired and than most forecasters had anticipated. indeed