investment portfolios. one of the factors behind the recent extraordinary performance of the united states has been the flexibility and innovation of its financial system. we will need to ensure that in canada too, the financial sector responds to the challenges of today ’ s changing financing needs. concluding thoughts let me summarize my main points today. canada has made remarkable progress over the last decade in strengthening its economic foundation. starting from that firmer base, we are now in a position to move forward and reap some of the potential gains in employment and incomes from the technological revolution that is now sweeping the world. monetary policy can support this process by providing a low and stable inflation environment. this will minimize economic fluctuations and allow our economy to perform at its best. fiscal policy can help by keeping public finances under control and continuing to reduce canada ’ s debt burden. the right balance of taxes and government services is also important. a stable, innovative financial sector can also help, by ensuring that financing flows efficiently to where it is needed the most. all this will go a long way towards providing an environment in which canadian companies can go about their business confidently in a world of rapid change. it is the business community, however, that must take the innovative, and sometimes risky, decisions that are necessary to improve productivity and competitiveness, in order to meet the challenges and realize the gains of proliferating technologies and increasingly open world markets. there is no reason why we in canada cannot meet these challenges and build a better economic future for ourselves.

value. this shift from credit to debit makes sense from the perspective of the consumer. if credit is tight and consumption is contracting, consumers who are reluctant or unable to increase their debt levels can use debit cards to pay for current expenses out of current, rather than future, income. in addition, for individuals with existing credit card balances, interest must be paid on new purchases as well as on previous balances. those individuals might seek to avoid interest charges on new purchases by using debit cards. this incentive is even stronger in see the federal reserve board's report to the congress on the use of credit cards by small businesses and the credit card market for small businesses ( may 2010 ) at htttp : / / www. federalreserve. gov / pubs / reports _ other. htm. the presence of higher credit card interest rates. finally, some consumers might use debit cards to track their spending in real time when budgets are tight. regulatory changes in consumer credit and payments in addition to the economic recession and recovery, the regulations governing consumer payment and credit products changed significantly in the past few years. so it is especially difficult to separate the effects of economic conditions from regulatory effects on credit and debit card usage. in december 2008, the federal reserve issued rules that introduced new consumer protections and revised the disclosures that consumers receive in connection with their credit card accounts. then, in may 2009, the congress enacted the credit card accountability responsibility and disclosure ( credit card ) act, which contained additional provisions regarding credit cards and gift cards. collectively, these rules have comprehensively overhauled the regulatory regime that applies to credit cards. in large part, these reforms developed in response to concerns about the growing complexity of the products offered to consumers and concerns that consumers could not accurately assess the costs associated with their credit cards. to address these concerns, the federal reserve used extensive consumer testing to develop new disclosures to be provided with credit card solicitations and in periodic statements. these disclosures highlight key account terms and attempt to improve consumers ’ understanding of the costs associated with using their cards. the resulting disclosure requirements establish a new baseline for transparency in the credit card industry. in addition, the new rules ban certain practices that increase the cost of credit in ways that cannot easily be disclosed to consumers, such as double - cycle billing. the new rules also generally prohibit card issuers from increasing interest rates applied to existing balances and require issuers to provide adequate notice of higher rates