janet l yellen : remarks on women ’ s history month remarks by ms janet l yellen, chair of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the women ’ s history month reception, us capitol, washington dc, 25 march 2014. * * * it ’ s an honor and a pleasure for me to be here with you to mark women ’ s history month, which itself has some history behind it. march 8, 1911 was the first international women ’ s day, and it was 1980 when president carter established national women ’ s history week. in 1987, congress acted to make that week a full month. women, of course, are also a part of history for the other 11 months of the year. and i would add that women were influencing the course of history long before 1980, or 1911. but i am glad that there is, each year, a time when we pause to think about the role of women, because history is more than simply what happened, and more than what women and men did to make it happen. history is what we remember about those deeds. it is the lessons we have taken from the past and the knowledge we draw on to live today and to shape the future. for me, one lesson from history is that it is no coincidence that america ’ s great success in the past century came as women steadily increased their participation in every aspect of society. starting with gaining the vote, just a few years before international women ’ s day, “ the american century, ” as it ’ s sometimes known, was also a century of progress for women. fundamental to our country ’ s values, to those ideals that have been and continue to be so influential around the world, is the principle of equality for all, including for women. one reason america ’ s example is influential elsewhere is because progress toward these ideals has been accompanied by great success in broadly raising living standards. and i think our economic success has been due in substantial part to the fuller participation and contribution of women to the economy. their increasing participation in the workforce, particularly after 1970, was a major factor in sustaining growing family incomes. making fuller use of the talents and efforts of women in the workplace has made us more productive and prosperous. if i were to apply this lesson, i would hope that our nation continues to reap the benefits of greater participation by women in the economy and that we do everything that we can to foster that participation. women have made great progress in many occupations and professions

and its aftermath. if the resulting economy proves less adaptive, for example, the natural rate of unemployment may well threaten to move upward, implying tighter labor markets at higher unemployment rates, and lower potential output. these estimates are especially difficult to ascertain given the uncertain contour of the financial architecture and the greater - than - usual reallocation ( and risk of misallocation ) of labor and capital across sectors. of course, countervailing risks could cause a mark - up in economic potential that cannot be dismissed : productivity gains may turn out to be larger and more enduring than we expect, and the remarkable resiliency of the u. s. economy could defy skeptics as it has done repeatedly in the post - world war ii era. data in the past couple of months show continued improvement in real economic performance. in combination with the repair in financial markets, the outlook for gross domestic product ( gdp ) in the next few quarters appears better, improving the odds of a more enduring positive feedback loop arising from market developments and real activity. nonetheless, the medium - term risks to the outlook are still disquieting. policies, broadly defined, that purport to bring stability to the macroeconomy could risk lowering output potential over the horizon. 6 the uncertainty of the capital and labor reallocation process, a global trade environment in transition, and a shifting regulatory environment represent downside risks. the possibility that we fail to accurately gauge the resulting changes in economic and inflation prospects – by virtue of the remarkable, iterative changes in private sector practices and public policy prescriptions – is a foremost risk for policymakers. in this environment, we should maintain considerable humility about optimal policy. preliminary, provisional, subject to revision, condition - dependent forecast i just sought to describe the challenges in conducting monetary policy in this environment. that should caution us to steer clear of ironclad policy prescriptions. nonetheless, i would hazard the view that prudent risk management suggests that policy will likely need to begin normalization before it is obvious that it is necessary, possibly with greater force than is customary, and taking proper account of the policies being instituted by other authorities. allow me to elaborate on each of these three items. first, when will the fed's extraordinary policy accommodation demand removal? the central banker's standard reply, to which i would associate myself here, fits the bill : when conditions warrant. the fomc stated on wednesday that " economic conditions