narayana kocherlakota : address to north dakota state university opening remarks by mr narayana kocherlakota, president of the federal reserve bank of minneapolis in an address to north dakota state university, fargo, 15 april 2014. * * * thanks to david fettig, terry fitzgerald and sam schulhofer - wohl for their assistance with these remarks thanks for the introduction, howard, and thank you for the invitation to join you here today. it ’ s a pleasure to be back in fargo. i ’ ll kick things off with some basics about the federal reserve system and the federal open market committee ( the fomc ). but the plan is for us to spend the bulk of our evening on your questions. one key point before i start : the views i express today are my own and are not necessarily those of others in the federal reserve system, including my colleagues on the fomc. in terms of basics about the fed : i like to tell people that the fed is a uniquely american institution. what do i mean by that? well, relative to its counterparts around the world, the u. s. central bank is highly decentralized. the federal reserve bank of minneapolis is one of 12 regional reserve banks that, along with the board of governors in washington, d. c., make up the federal reserve system. our bank represents the ninth of the 12 federal reserve districts and includes montana, the dakotas, minnesota, northwestern wisconsin and the upper peninsula of michigan. eight times per year, the fomc meets to set the path of interest rates over the next six to seven weeks. all 12 presidents of the various regional federal reserve banks – including me – and the seven governors of the federal reserve board contribute to these deliberations. however, the committee itself consists only of the governors, the president of the federal reserve bank of new york and a rotating group of four other presidents. i ’ m one of those four presidents this year. in this way, the structure of the fomc mirrors the federalist structure of our government, because representatives from different regions of the country – the various presidents – have input into fomc deliberations. this basic federalist structure has a long history. in fact, this year is the centennial of the opening of the 12 reserve banks and the start of the work undertaken by the federal reserve system. it ’ s been a fascinating hundred years, with many twists and turns along the way. i

michelle w bowman : welcoming remarks – “ fed listens ” welcoming remarks ( via livestream ) by ms michelle w bowman, member of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the fed listens “ helping youth thrive — a discussion with leaders ”, federal reserve bank of cleveland, cleveland, ohio, 18 march 2022. * * * when we started the fed listens initiative, we wanted input from the public on one big decision that the fed faced, which was making changes to our goals and strategy for monetary policy. after holding a number of public meetings in communities across the country, and after issuing a new statement on our goals and strategy that was enriched by what we heard, we decided that this kind of input could continue to inform and enrich the other important decisions we face. so the listening has continued, and the agenda has evolved to include pressing issues in the wake of the covid - 19 pandemic, such as today ’ s conversation on education and work opportunities for young people. i am pleased to continue the fed listens process for the board of governors because i believe that providing the public with greater access to policymakers and gathering a diverse set of perspectives will help us better understand how our decisions affect individuals, families, and businesses. it will help us better understand the challenges people face and consider how we can help address those challenges in our work promoting a healthy economy and financial system. one thing i know is that america can ’ t thrive economically or financially unless young people thrive. i have school - age kids, and like many other families, we have faced challenges the past couple of years, dealing with the impact of the pandemic, trying to make sure that our kids have every opportunity to succeed and that they don ’ t miss out on experiences outside of school to learn and grow. i know that this has been a very difficult period for young people and for parents, many of whom were forced to choose between work and caring for their children. i am hopeful that these difficult choices are behind us, and that the end of the pandemic will allow us to focus intently on what young people need most to succeed. their success is directly connected to the fed ’ s mission. educating young people and preparing them for the demands made on the 21st century workforce will have a huge impact on the productivity of the u. s. economy. rising productivity allows living standards to rise without contributing to inflation. so the fed ’ s goals for monetary policy — to