a percent change, so even when this percent is declining, all it means is that the prices are rising at a slower rate, but they are still rising! the prices would come down only when the inflation becomes negative. 19. in conclusion, we must ask ourselves as to why a quotation like “ lies, damned lies, and statistics ” as mentioned by me earlier is made about the subject of statistics. in my opinion, it is because the society is illiterate, i. e. it is information illiterate. information literacy, which most people misunderstand, is the third generation of literacy. the first generation of literacy is when you know how to read and write. the second generation of literacy is when you are computer literate, but it is not enough to be just first or second generation literate. when transiting to a knowledge society, it is critical for all of us to be information literate or be third generation literate. and, one of the purposes of statistics is to bring about information literacy in the society. if that does not happen then statistics can be used to prove or disprove anything and it is the subject of statistics which would bear the burden of ridicule. so, it is up to all of us, faculty, students and practitioners alike, to redirect our efforts towards spreading information literacy in the society. institutions associated with teaching and training of statistics have a more important role to play in that direction, and i am confident that students, teachers and practitioners of statistics associated with department of mathematical sciences at bhu will take greater responsibility in spreading information literacy in the society. and this will be your greatest service to the memory of “ mahamana ” and to the discipline of statistics. i wish you good luck in this effort. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches

for release on delivery 1 : 30 p. m. est february 18, 2022 preparing for the financial system of the future remarks by lael brainard member board of governors of the federal reserve system at the 2022 us monetary policy forum new york, ny february 18, 2022 the financial system is undergoing fast - moving changes associated with digitalization and decentralization. some of these innovations hold considerable promise to reduce transaction costs and frictions, increase competition, and improve financial inclusion, but there are also potential risks. with technology driving profound change, it is important we prepare for the financial system of the future and not limit our thinking to the financial system of today. 1 the evolving digitalization and decentralization of finance in recent years, there has been explosive growth in the development and adoption of new digital assets that leverage distributed ledger technologies and cryptography. the market capitalization of cryptocurrencies grew from less than $ 100 billion five years ago to a high of almost $ 3 trillion in november 2021 and is currently around $ 2 trillion. 2 in parallel, we have seen rapid growth in the platforms that facilitate the crypto finance ecosystem, including decentralized finance ( defi ) platforms. these crypto platforms facilitate a variety of activities, including lending, trading, and custodying crypto - assets, in some cases outside the traditional regulatory guardrails for investor and consumer protection, market integrity, and transparency. the growth in the crypto finance ecosystem is fueling demand for stablecoins — digital assets that are intended to maintain stable value relative to reference assets, such as the u. s. dollar. stablecoin supply grew nearly sixfold in 2021, from roughly $ 29 billion in january 2021 to $ 165 billion in january 2022. there is a high degree of i am grateful to alexandra fernandez, lacy douglas, david mills, sonja danburg, and david pope of the federal reserve board for their assistance in preparing this text. these views are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the federal reserve board or the federal open market committee. coinmarketcap, “ total cryptocurrency market cap, ” last modified on february 16, 2022, https : / / coinmarketcap. com / charts /. - 2concentration among a few dollar - pegged stablecoins : as of january 2022, the largest stablecoin by market capitalization made up almost half of the market, and the four largest stable