christine lagarde : monetary policy in the euro area - attentive and focused speech by ms christine lagarde, president of the european central bank, at the highlevel public discussion " inflation kills democracy " on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the currency reform in germany in 1923, organised by the german ministry of finance, berlin, 21 november 2023. * * * the story of germany in the years after the first world war is a striking reminder of how price stability and democracy go hand in hand. the historian gerald feldman famously called those troubled years " the great disorder ". 1 and although the relative contributions of the hyperinflation of the 1920s and the deflation of the 1930s are still debated, there is little doubt that wild swings in prices eroded the economic foundations of democracy. one of the ways in which price instability does this is by triggering large distributional effects, which often hurt the poorest in society the most. for example, ecb analysis finds that the spike in inflation over the last 18 months has disproportionately affected low - income households as they spend more of their income on necessities like energy and food, which saw surging prices. 2 these are fundamental reasons why, in most liberal democracies, central banks have been entrusted with mandates to preserve price stability. and at the ecb, we will never compromise on our mandate. that is why, in response to rising inflation, we raised interest rates at the fastest pace in our history, by 450 basis points in just over a year. and we will return inflation to our medium - term target in a timely manner. however, having made such a large and fast adjustment, we are in a phase of our policy cycle which i would characterise as being " attentive and focused ". we need to be attentive to the different forces affecting inflation : the unwinding of past energy shocks, the strength of monetary policy transmission, the dynamics of wages and the evolution of inflation expectations. and we need to remain focused on bringing inflation back to our target, and not rush to premature conclusions based on short - term developments. the forces pushing down inflation there are two main forces pushing down inflation today. first, the energy and supply chain shocks which played a substantial role in last year's inflation surge are now unwinding. 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches at its peak, energy and food accounted for more than two - thirds of headline inflation

for release on delivery 12 : 45 p. m. est ( 11 : 45 p. m. cst ) february 12, 2019 encouraging economic development in high - poverty rural communities remarks by jerome h. powell chairman board of governors of the federal reserve system at “ rural places, rural spaces : closing financial services gaps in persistent poverty america, ” a policy forum sponsored by hope enterprise corporation mississippi valley state university itta bena, mississippi february 12, 2019 thank you for that kind introduction. i also want to thank hope enterprise corporation for inviting me to speak and mississippi valley state university ( mvsu ) for hosting us on its lovely campus. it is a great pleasure to visit the mississippi delta. this region gave america the priceless musical heritage of the blues. it was also the site of some of the watershed events of the civil rights movement. but the delta, like many rural areas, has long confronted the challenge of poverty. today i ’ ll speak about three areas of opportunity for addressing the challenges of rural poverty - - education and workforce development, entrepreneurship and small business development, as well as access to financial services - the topic of this conference. mvsu ’ s mission, providing young people an affordable college education, is itself a very powerful antipoverty program - - for its graduates, of course, but also for other communities that are touched by the university. mvsu opened its doors in 1950 as mississippi vocational college. the vocation of every member of its first class of 200 students was teaching. and even as it added other programs and became a full - fledged university, mvsu has continued to train many of the teachers who enrich, inspire, and spark the imagination of children who grow up in the delta. mvsu and other historically black colleges and universities, or hbcus, play a crucial role in their communities. for much of the 20th century, hbcus were the primary means for black men and women to obtain the education needed for middle class or professional jobs. larger percentages of hbcu students, compared with students at predominantly white institutions, come from lower - income families and are the first in their families to attend college. this university and other hbcus support intellectual - 2leadership, creativity, and innovation. i want to honor you for this proud history and for your continuing commitment to a better future for your students and for the region where many of your students were born and will build their lives and raise their families. 1 challenges and opportunities