michelle w bowman : opening remarks – " monetary policy ’ s impact on workers and their communities " opening remarks by ms michelle w bowman, member of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at " monetary policy ’ s impact on workers and their communities ", a fed listens event, sponsored by the federal reserve bank of chicago, chicago, illinois, 17 october 2019. * * * thank you, president evans, for hosting this event today, and to our moderator and participants for taking part in this valuable discussion. today ’ s event is the last in our series of fed listens events held across the country to learn about how americans think about monetary policy and how they think about the federal reserve. in keeping with the purpose of fed listens, i would like to spend most of our time in conversation. but i do want to offer a few thoughts about why the fed is reaching out to seek a broad range of views, and what we are hoping to accomplish through this initiative. fed listens is a new comprehensive outreach to the public on monetary policy. for many decades there was a sense at the board that the public wasn ’ t interested or even willing to dive into the complexities of monetary policy. that view has changed in a fundamental way, especially in the aftermath of the financial crisis when it was urgently important that the public understand what we were doing. so we began explaining as accessibly and as clearly as we could what we were doing and why. now we are listening carefully. since i became a board member almost a year ago, it has become clear to me that people are not only willing to engage on complex economic issues, but they also want to know that their concerns are being taken into consideration on issues that affect their financial well - being. the fed ’ s movement toward greater transparency and public engagement is well underway, and advancing that effort is one of my top priorities. at the same time, we recognize that the clear communication of our policies actually helps us achieve our goals. when we communicate our views on the economic outlook and our expectations for where interest rates may be heading, consumers and businesses take that information into account when making decisions on spending, investment, and hiring. for that reason, our policy communications are an important part of the fed ’ s toolkit for influencing the direction of the economy. fed listens is a natural outcome of this commitment to public engagement. we have heard from many people from different parts of the country and from different sectors of the economy

to help us reach and sustain our objectives more effectively? i also want to know how the federal open market committee ’ s communication of its policy framework might be improved. how can we help you better understand our work so you can hold us accountable? your perspectives on questions like these are a vital part of this monetary policy review. so i want to thank you again for your time and your contributions. once the policy review is complete, we will share our findings with the public, probably during the first half of next year. i look forward to our discussion. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches