considering. countries that lack the seasoning of a long history of dealing in international finance should manage their external assets and liabilities in such a way that they are always able to live without new foreign borrowing for up to, for example, one year. that is, usable foreign exchange reserves should exceed scheduled amortizations of foreign currency debts ( assuming no rollovers ) during the following year. this rule could be readily augmented to meet the additional test that the average maturity of a country ’ s external liabilities should exceed a certain threshold, such as three years. this could be accomplished directly, or through the myriad innovations to augment maturities through rollover options. the constraint on the average maturity ensures a degree of private sector “ burden sharing ” in times of crisis, since in the event of a crisis, the market value of longer maturities would doubtless fall sharply. clearly few, if any, locked - in holders of long - term investments could escape without significant loss. short - term foreign creditors, on the other hand, are able to exit without significant loss as their instruments mature. if the preponderance of a country ’ s liabilities are short term, the entire burden of a crisis would fall on the emerging market economy in the form of a run on reserves. some emerging market countries may argue that they have difficulty selling long - term maturities. if that is indeed the case, their economies are being exposed to too high a risk generally. for too long, too many emerging market economies have managed their external liabilities so as to minimize their current borrowing cost. this short - sighted approach ignores the insurance imbedded in long - term debt, insurance that is almost always well worth the price. adherence to such a rule is no guarantee that all financial crises can be avoided. if the confidence of domestic residents is undermined, they can generate demands for foreign exchange that would not be captured in this analysis. but controlling the structure of external assets and liabilities nonetheless could make a significant contribution to stability. considerable progress has been made in recent years in developing sophisticated financial instruments. these developments create added complexity that all financial market participants, including policymakers from emerging market economies, must manage. however, they also create opportunities that emerging market economies should seek to exploit. in doing so there are lessons they can learn from advances in risk management strategies developed by major financial institutions. to the extent that policymakers are unable to anticipate or evaluate the types of complex risks that the

— including early childhood learning, youth programs, housing, reservation schools, higher education, workforce development, children and family services, and elder programs. 38 center for indian country development a pervasive lack of data makes it difficult to evaluate how economic developments are impacting indian country. the limitations of the data available on indian country are due to data collection and reporting issues, such as small sample size or large margins of error. 39 at the federal reserve bank of minneapolis, the center for indian country development collects data and conducts economic research and analysis to help resolve the critical need for accurate and timely data. one of the steps they have taken includes publishing a labor market data tool, which presents estimates of the labor force participation rate, employment - to - population ratio, and unemployment rate for the ai / an population in the u. s. 40 the center for indian country development also focuses on applied research and engagement in indian country to support long term economic prosperity and inclusion. recent research has centered on the role tribal enterprises play in economic opportunity and how tax revenues in indian country can help improve the economic infrastructure and financial inclusion for tribal communities. through policy webinars and its upcoming inaugural research summit, see “ an economic education partnership with indian country, ” federal reserve bank of st. louis, november 19, 2020, https : / / www. stlouisfed. org / open - vault / 2020 / november / economic - education - partnership - indian - country. see “ data disaggregation : the asterisk nation, ” national congress of american indians ( ncai ) policy research center, https : / / www. ncai. org / policy - research - center / research - data / data. see center for indian country development, “ native american labor market dashboard, ” federal reserve bank of minneapolis, https : / / www. minneapolisfed. org / indiancountry / resources / native - american - labor - market - dashboard. the center is working alongside tribal leaders to leverage data and research to improve the economic well - being of indian country. the reserve banks play a unique and important role in increasing our understanding of local needs and regional issues, and in the federal reserve districts with large native american populations and stakeholders, our banks are very engaged with indian country activities. we welcome the diverse perspectives of native americans, from serving on our boards and advisory councils to joining us as full - time employees, to better inform our decisionmaking. tawney brunsch