timothy f geithner : the fed challenge remarks by mr timothy f geithner, president and chief executive officer of the federal reserve bank of new york, at the national academy foundation ’ s 2004 dinner, new york, 8 december 2004. * * * thank you, gene, for that generous introduction. it is a pleasure to be here tonight to celebrate the national academy foundation and all of your contributions to this important mission. i am very pleased to accept this award on behalf of the federal reserve bank of new york. i want to compliment sandy weill on his commitment to education and the achievements of the naf. and i want to recognize three important people from the new york fed who are responsible for the fed challenge : steve malin, lloyd bromberg and bob diamant. among these and other contributions to public service, sandy serves as a member of the board of directors of the new york fed. i want to tell you his reaction to a presentation early this year on our work in financial education. sandy listened carefully to the description of the full array of new york fed programs. then, in his typically tentative and understated way, with the same soft approach he brought to building one of the most formidable financial institutions in the world, asked why the bank didn ’ t limit its role in education to simply supporting the national academy foundation. his belief, with justifiable pride in the foundation, was that there was no more important contribution the fed could make and no more competent institution engaged in this effort than the foundation. fortunately for the new york fed, we have a long and productive collaboration with the foundation. we provide support on curriculum design and professional development. we are working together to help create a new high school in the city with a finance theme. the naf has adopted the fed challenge for its academies throughout the country. and we benefit in turn by using the academy ’ s work as a model for the economic and financial programs we support and initiate. if you care about the economic future of america, you have to care about educational reform and the mission of the naf. this mission has always been important, but it is particularly important today. confidence in america depends importantly on success in the education mission. improving educational achievement will play a critical role in generating the innovations necessary to drive future productivity growth. and yet, us students remain math challenged, and we are awarding a diminishing share of the world ’ s phds in science and engineering. improving the quality

morning i visited the fort bliss army community service training center, which offers classes on such financial topics as budgeting, debt management, understanding credit, car buying, and protecting against identity theft. more broadly, according to a recent study, 80 percent of veterans said their military experience helped them get ahead in life. 1 they said the experience helped them mature, taught them to work with others, and built their self - confidence. the value of military experience is reflected in the fact that the unemployment rate for veterans tends to be lower than the rate for non - veterans. 2 second, when you leave the military, take advantage of education benefits for veterans. the post - 9 / 11 gi bill pays for tuition and fees, a monthly housing allowance, and books and supplies. keep in mind that, on average, compared with high school graduates, people with college degrees earn about twice as much and suffer about half the rate of unemployment. 3 finally, educate yourself about your own personal finances. research by the federal reserve right here at fort bliss shows that financial education can pay off. 4 beginning in 2003, the federal reserve collaborated with army emergency relief, the u. s. army ’ s own financial assistance organization, to provide a two - day financial education course, taught by see pew research center ( 2011 ), “ war and sacrifice in the post - 9 / 11 era : the military - civilian gap ” ( washington : prc, october 5 ) available at www. pewsocialtrends. org / 2011 / 10 / 05 / war - and - sacrifice - inthe - post - 911 - era / 1. in october 2011, the unemployment rate was 7. 7 percent for veterans and 8. 8 percent for non - veterans ( not seasonally adjusted, age 18 and older ). in october 2011, the unemployment rate for college graduates was 4. 4 percent compared with 9. 6 percent for those with only a high school education. see catherine bell, daniel gorin, and jeanne m. hogarth ( 2009 ), “ does financial education affect soldiers'financial behavior? ” networks financial institute working paper 2009 - wp - 08 ( terre haute, ind. : nfi at indiana state university, august ), www. networksfinancialinstitute. org / lists / publication % 20library / attachments / 140 / 2009 - wp08 _ bell _ gorin _ hogarth. pdf. bis central bankers ’ speeches the staff of san diego city