AIG's failure revealed systemic problems in the OTC derivatives market that went well beyond the failure of a single market participant.

Emerging market economies have long grappled with the challenges posed by large and volatile cross-border capital flows.

We understand that America's prosperity is bound up with the prosperity of other nations, including emerging market nations.

By fostering the economic health and vitality of local communities throughout the country, community banks play a central role in our national economy. One important aspect of that role is to serve as a primary source of credit for the small businesses that are responsible for creating a substantial proportion of all new jobs.

My colleagues on the Board of Governors and I understand the value of having a diverse financial system that includes a large and vibrant contingent of community banks.

Although I have never worked in a community bank, I have been a customer, and I know from personal experience the special skills that these institutions bring to their customers.

Perhaps the greatest challenge for the resolution of a systemic global bank is the possibility that public or private actors in different countries might take local actions that would cause the overall resolution to spin out of control.

The Federal Reserve places great importance on our relations with the Bundesbank. Few such relationships have been as important, over the decades, in promoting financial stability and prosperity around the world.

Businesses and households react to lower rates by investing and spending more. Lower rates also support the prices of housing and financial assets such as stocks and bonds.

By purchasing and holding large amounts of Treasury securities and MBS, we put additional downward pressure on term premiums and so on long-term rates.

The longer workers are unemployed, the greater the likelihood that their skills will erode and workers will lose attachment to the labor force, permanently damaging the economy's dynamism and potential output.

To ensure financial stability, we expect the provision of U.S. government securities settlement services to be robust in nearly all contingencies.

Given that trade benefited the Asian economies on the way up, it seems natural that the slowdown in global trade, whatever its causes, could lead to some loss of dynamism and growth in the region.

The FOMC has considerable control over short-term interest rates. We have much less influence over long-term rates, which are set in the marketplace.

The financial crisis and the Great Recession left firms with excess capacity, reducing incentives to invest. If businesses expect slower growth to continue, that will also hold down investment.

The only way to ensure that inflation expectations remain safely anchored near the FOMC's target is to keep inflation close to that target on a consistent basis.

Below-target inflation increases the real value of debts owed by households and businesses and reduces the ability of central banks to respond to downturns.

Central banking often comes across as obscure and complicated, and we try to help the public understand what we do.

My own experience is that the best outcomes are reached when opposing viewpoints are clearly and strongly presented before decisions are made.

If the public understands the central bank's views on the economy and monetary policy, then households and businesses will take those views into account in making their spending and investment plans; policy will be more effective as a result.

Real short- and long-term rates were relatively high in the late-1990s, so financial excess can also arise without a low-rate environment.

Over time, low rates can put pressure on the business models of financial institutions.

The main long-run contribution monetary policy can make is to provide a stable macroeconomic and financial environment.

Long-term economic growth depends mainly on nonmonetary factors such as population growth and workforce participation, the skills and aptitudes of our workforce, the tools at their disposal, and the pace of technological advance. Fiscal and regulatory policies can have important effects on these factors.