gap is associated simply with differences in family ownership of assets. in 2001, about 22 percent of minority families had no type of nonfinancial asset - - such as a residence, a vehicle, or a business ; almost 18 percent had no type of financial asset - - such as a checking or savings account, stocks, bonds, or other such assets. for other families, the comparable figures were well below 10 percent. obviously, with their more limited asset ownership, minorities had less opportunity to benefit from the substantial appreciation of assets, such as houses and corporate equities, that occurred over the 1990s. nonetheless, increases in ownership are an important factor in explaining the gains in net worth that we did see for minorities over the past decade. two items stand out as particularly important : transaction accounts and personal residences. transaction accounts - - including checking and savings accounts - - are the most basic type of financial asset. without such holdings, families are unlikely to acquire the sophistication to move further into the financial system. over the period from 1992 to 2001, the share of minority families with such accounts rose from 64 percent to 78 percent. no doubt, a large part of the differences in asset holdings between minorities and other families may be attributed to differences in income. by the definitions used in our survey, the median income of minority families in 2001 was only 57 percent that of other families. however, earlier work by our staff suggests that, even after controlling for such factors as income and formal education, minorities are still less likely to hold even a basic checking account. this finding suggests that fostering equal opportunity and supporting financial literacy campaigns may help minorities move into the financial mainstream. i do not have time today to cover the full range of detailed findings on asset and debt holdings from our 2001 survey of consumer finances. clearly, the survey is an important source of information on how changes in financial markets, innovations in lending, and other factors affect the financial situation of families. our staff is preparing an article for publication in the federal reserve bulletin early next year, which will provide a fuller review of the results. changes in home ownership the other important contributor to the rise in wealth among minorities has been the rise in home ownership. indeed, for many households, the largest and most important asset is the home they own. home ownership is one of the cornerstones of wealth building and is generally associated with a range of socially desirable outcomes, including good schools, less crime, and neighborhood stability. for these and other

for release on delivery 10 : 30 a. m. edt ( 4 : 30 p. m. local time ) may 11, 2023 climate change and financial stability remarks by christopher j. waller member board of governors of the federal reserve system at ie university – banco de espana – federal reserve bank of st. louis conference current challenges in economics and finance madrid, spain may 11, 2023 thank you for inviting me to speak today. climate change is real, but i do not believe it poses a serious risk to the safety and soundness of large banks or the financial stability of the united states. 1 risks are risks. there is no need for us to focus on one set of risks in a way that crowds out our focus on others. my job is to make sure that the financial system is resilient to a range of risks. and i believe risks posed by climate change are not sufficiently unique or material to merit special treatment relative to others. 2 nevertheless, i think it ’ s important to continue doing high - quality academic research regarding the role that climate plays in economic outcomes, such as the work presented at today ’ s conference. in what follows, i want to be careful not to conflate my views on climate change itself with my views on how we should deal with financial risks associated with climate change. i believe the scientific community has rigorously established that our climate is changing. but my role is not to be a climate policymaker. consistent with the fed ’ s mandates, i must focus on financial risks, and the questions i ’ m exploring today are about whether the financial risks associated with climate change are different enough from other financial stability risks to merit special treatment. but before getting to those questions, i ’ d like to briefly explain how we think about financial stability at the federal reserve. the views expressed here are my own and are not necessarily those of my colleagues on the federal reserve board. while the actions the federal reserve has taken to date are mostly in an exploratory spirit, they could lead to the perception that we intend to give climate change special treatment in the future. for example, recent actions include the organization of a supervision climate committee and a financial stability climate committee, the issuance of principles for climate - related financial risk management for large financial institutions in december 2022, and the pilot climate scenario analysis exercise initiated with the issuance of scenarios in january 2023. - 2financial stability is at the core of the federal reserve and our