. in conclusion, i want to applaud the federal reserve bank of philadelphia for supporting the stakeholders coming together at these conferences, giving us opportunities to learn from each other as we engage in this important work. 1 board of governors of the federal reserve system, " federal reserve board provides additional information on its program to supervise novel activities in the banks it oversees, " press release, august 8, 2023. 2 board of governors, " federal reserve board provides additional information on its program. " 3 this requirement is consistent with the supervisory nonobjection requirement applicable to national banks pursuant to interpretive letters issued by the office of the comptroller of the currency. ( see occ interpretive letter no. 1174 ( january 4, 2021 ) and occ interpretive letter no. 1179 ( november 18, 2021 ). ) 4 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches

no doubt know the song by janis joplin that goes as follows : " oh lord, won ’ t you buy me a mercedes benz? my friends all drive porsches, i must make amends. " the song probably doesn ’ t feature on donald trump ’ s playlist. after all, the fact that americans like to drive german cars while germans are not so impressed by american ones is a thorn in his side. but as long as it is an expression of consumer preference, it does not constitute market or competition distortion. at the end of the day, there are also american products and services that are in very high demand in germany – in the it and mobile sectors, for instance, or the internet search engine industry, to name just a few. it is also difficult to pin market distortions on trade or current account balances. all in all, the current account balance reflects the countless saving and investment decisions made within an economy. in addition to the decisions made by enterprises and households, fiscal policy plays a role here. simulation exercises conducted by the bundesbank reveal that the tax cuts passed in the united states will probably push up debt and current account deficit levels considerably. 7 this will do nothing to reduce global imbalances. furthermore, given the diversity of economic relationships and level of interconnectedness with third countries, looking at the goods traded between two countries alone is insufficient. trade expert gabriel felbermayr pointed out that, overall, the united states actually has a current account surplus with the eu : income from services and primary income more than compensate for its trade in goods deficit. 8 felbermayr also wrote, " the eu is in no way a paradise for advocates of free trade, especially when compared to the united states. " 9 for 48 % of all products, the eu imposes a higher tariff than the united states, while the reverse is true for 30 % of products. it is a welcome development that the two sides are now discussing how to dismantle trade barriers. lowering tariffs would boost welfare and benefit consumers, in particular. for example, a study carried out by the european commission shows that consumers have saved €60 billion a year since the 1990s as a result of tariff reductions. nowadays, thanks to the conclusion of a free trade agreement, purchasing a car from korea with an import value of €13, 300 is tariff - free, but a 10 % import tariff that was previously in place would have resulted in additional costs amounting