some of their earlier difficulties but continue to struggle. the effect on financial markets of the devastating attack on the world trade center was pronounced, as telecommunications and trading capacities were severely impaired. but the markets are mostly functioning normally now, and as in the past, the infrastructure will be rapidly restored. for a brief time, the terrorist attacks markedly disrupted payment transfers, leaving those counting on receiving payments caught short. those needs ultimately were met by the federal reserve, both through record lending at the discount window and through an extraordinary infusion of funds through open - market operations. to facilitate the channeling of dollar liquidity to foreign financial institutions operating in the united states, thirty - day currency swap lines were arranged with major central banks, again in record volumes. it was essential in such an environment to meet all appropriate demands for dollar liquidity. as repair of the financial markets and payment infrastructure proceeded apace, loans were repaid, open - market operations could be scaled back, the unusual swap lines were allowed to expire, and the temporarily bloated balance sheet of the federal reserve largely returned to normal. but even as market functioning and liquidity flows were restored, the potential for heightened uncertainty to damp household and business spending for a time persisted. to cushion these effects, we have eased the stance of monetary policy appreciably since september 11. * * * we in the united states have assumed ourselves to be fairly well - insulated from terrorism or, at most, subject to limited and sporadic episodes similar to those previously observed on a number of occasions in europe. we have been aware of the possibility for losses on a much greater scale. but i suspect that those possibilities were deemed so remote that they were never seriously incorporated into most conventional assessments of economic risk. the shock of the tragedies at the world trade center and the pentagon has reshaped those assessments of risk and required an abrupt realignment of prices in many markets to reflect the expected costs of operating in what we now recognize as a more hostile world. these circumstances pose a difficult challenge for business decisionmaking, not so much because the costs are inordinately large, but because the events, which have potentially substantial consequences, are so uncertain. insurance deals with this problem by spreading the risk and converting potential large unknown costs into a steady stream of known insurance premiums that facilitates the forward planning so essential to an effective business operation. obviously, sharp increases in insurance premiums for all forms of businesses are to be expected. some higher

individual communities across the nation. each of the reserve banks has an active, well - staffed community development function - - one of the great benefits of the federal reserve ’ s structure. we get important and timely information on the state of local economic and financial conditions, including those affecting low - and moderate - income, as well as other underserved, communities. our community development staff provide us with a more nuanced understanding of current economic and financial conditions. they also help people in low - income and underserved communities overcome the challenges they face. we support numerous initiatives in rural communities across the country, several of which i would like to highlight. the first initiative is the federal reserve bank of st. louis ’ s longtime commitment to the mississippi and arkansas delta region. this region has struggled for decades with persistent intergenerational poverty and a lack of resources and capacity to address this challenge. most recently, in 2016 the st. louis fed launched the delta communities initiative, and since then it has held 26 regional forums with more than 500 participants. these forums help to build awareness of promising tools and strategies system, september 25 ), https : / / www. federalreserve. gov / econres / notes / feds - notes / labor - market - outcomesin - metropolitan - and - non - metropolitan - areas - signs - of - growing - disparities - 20170925. htm. see, for example, economic innovation group ( 2016 ), the new map of economic growth and recovery ( washington : eig, may ), https : / / eig. org / recoverymap. - 3for community and economic development. a recent survey of participants suggests that these forums are making a real difference. a second example is the federal reserve bank of dallas ’ s commitment to advancing digital inclusion in low - income rural communities. despite significant effort and advances made by public, private, and nonprofit organizations in recent years, nearly 30 percent of rural households continue to lack access to broadband internet service. also, fewer than half of households earning less than $ 20, 000 per year have such service. 3 in an increasingly digital economy, lack of access to high - speed internet and the knowledge of how to make the best use of it limits the ability of families and entire communities to reach their full potential. to address this problem, the dallas fed has explored the role of the community reinvestment act ( cra ) in addressing the digital divide, the