money helps to illustrate the point i am trying to make. it remains to be seen how popular this form of payment will become in the united states, but the question of whether nonbank institutions should be allowed to issue electronic money is actively being debated in many countries. some argue that issuing money is a special bank function and that electronic money should properly remain exclusively a bank product. for the time being, however, i along with other policymakers at the federal reserve have concluded that any decision to reserve the nascent market for smart cards and other forms of electronic money as a province for banks alone might well stifle both competition and technological innovation in this area. thus, while most would agree that providing efficient payment media for small dollar transactions is a “ special ” function that banks currently perform, it does not follow that only banks should be allowed to perform the function. as a corollary, i would also say that there is not a “ special ” public purpose in constraining banks from competing in many other markets traditionally dominated by nonbank financial institutions. this is a subject which is especially topical in the united states because our domestic banks are more restricted in the business activities in which they can engage than are banks in many other countries. as you know, the federal reserve has pushed to expand banks ’ ability to compete with investment houses in underwriting securities, and the scope for u. s. banks to sell insurance - related products has also expanded recently. the third general aspect of banking that is often deemed special is the linkage between the banking system and monetary policy. of course, this is a topic that has spawned a truly vast economic literature. without venturing into this thicket, i would simply like to note as fact that through much of the 1990 - 1994 period, growth of the broad u. s. monetary aggregates such as m2 was quite at odds with historical relationships to nominal income growth. perhaps the most important factor underlying this development has been a fundamental realignment of household financial assets away from bank deposits in favor of bond and stock mutual funds and other capital market investments. this “ decoupling ” of banking system deposit liabilities and nominal gdp became so pronounced during the first half of the 1990s that the federal open market committee downgraded the status of m2 as a policy variable. today m2 remains only one of the many variables reviewed by the fomc in the course of its policy deliberations. i raise this example because financial innovations and shifts in financial structure affecting

jerome h powell : opening remarks opening remarks by mr jerome h powell, chair of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the gender and the economy conference, a symposium hosted by the division of consumer and community affairs, board of governors of the federal reserve system, washington, d. c., ( via webcast ), 8 november 2021. * * * good morning. i am pleased to welcome everyone to today ’ s conference on gender and the economy. thank you for being here, for participating, and for lending your expertise on this important topic. we have gathered an impressive lineup of speakers and panelists, who will address a range of timely and important issues. to open the conference, i will give a brief tour of the important research on display here, then discuss how the pandemic has affected the economy along gender lines. research the speakers and panelists will be exploring a wide range of topics, from a historical review of gender issues and the economy to how someone ’ s education options — and the financing of those choices — affect that person ’ s early career and financial stability. speakers and panelists will also be looking at the influence of family and caregiving on career advancement and will discuss timely topics of wealth and retirement. the pandemic and gender the pandemic widened deep - rooted inequities in our economy. along racial, gender, and socioeconomic lines, those least able to bear it, unfortunately, were those who were most affected. women make up the majority of frontline workers, who have been under substantial strain — and subject to personal risks — during the pandemic. additionally, women took on the majority of caring responsibilities, for older relatives and children alike. as schools closed and childcare services shuttered during the worst of the pandemic, that added responsibility and stress made working more difficult for some and took many away from their jobs. these burdens are real and have been an additional challenge during an already challenging time. in a reversal of previous recessions, women suffered more from job losses in the covid - 19 recession than men. in april 2020, the unemployment rate for women was 16. 1 percent, compared with 13. 6 percent for men. the gap persisted until september of that year, and while it has since reversed, it does not account for the many women who left the workforce entirely. 1 increased childcare responsibilities during the pandemic also affected many parents ’ working lives. mothers of small children