John C. Williams’ Speeches

The enormous and prolonged economic fallout from the global financial crisis and the subsequent deleveraging have convincingly demonstrated the need to mitigate the risk of crisis. We should have known this from the work of Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff (2009), but the lesson has finally stuck. My topic this afternoon centers on the role of monetary policy in avoiding financial crises. The conventional wisdom can be stated as follows: The first line of defense against financial instability is strong and robust micro and macroprudential policies. Monetary policy should only be a last resort. I agree with the first statement that […]

Thank you for the kind introduction and for giving me the opportunity to address this very distinguished group in the beautiful city of Zurich.  The Swiss National Bank’s annual research conference has established itself as one of the world’s most substantive forums for discussion of monetary policy issues.  The theme selected for this year’s conference, “Policy Challenges and Developments in Monetary Economics,” is particularly timely and relevant.  In the past three years, there has certainly been no shortage of policy challenges and developments in the field of monetary economics. Chairman Bernanke said, “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.” 2 Well, extraordinary […]

Welcome to the San Francisco Fed and our beautiful city by the Bay.  I want to extend a special greeting to those of you who have come all the way from Asia to join us.  I’m sorry that other commitments kept me from joining you yesterday.  I’m sure though that Mohamed El-Erian’s keynote address set a strong tone for this conference, which is convening at a time of heightened financial uncertainty around the world. This is the San Francisco Fed’s fifth Asian Banking Conference & Symposium.  These events are designed to encourage conversation and dialog.  Our aim is to provide a […]

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak here today. I want especially to pay my respects to Admiral Biesel, whose remarks remind us what America is capable of when we face a challenge. I’m very glad to be in Seattle, a city known for its excellent quality of life, natural beauty, and rich cultural resources. I’m here to speak about the nation’s economy and what the Federal Reserve is doing to promote recovery. It’s worth reminding ourselves that, after suffering the worst financial and economic crisis in several generations, we are now in the third year of economic recovery. […]

Thank you very much for coming today. It’s a pleasure to be here in Salt Lake City. You’ve got nearly everything here—mountains, desert, and, of course, the lake. In fact, as a native Californian, I would say the only thing that’s missing is the ocean. My subject today is the outlook for the economy. We are now two full years into the economic recovery, yet progress on restoring the economy from the damage caused by the financial crisis and ensuing Great Recession remains discouragingly slow. The news from the jobs front has been particularly disappointing, with the unemployment rate—currently 9.2 percent—stubbornly […]

Good evening and welcome to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. It’s a special pleasure to have you with us. As Chairman Bernanke has noted, economics education is “a critical component of the Federal Reserve’s mission.”2 You are the ones who teach this often confounding subject—not only to those who will follow careers in finance and economics, but also to future engineers, artists, and elementary school teachers. For our part, we at the Fed have an enormous stake in economics education. The Fed has often appeared to be clouded in mystery. People often misunderstand our mission and what we do. […]

Good afternoon and thank you for coming. I particularly want to thank Town Hall Los Angeles for organizing this event. It’s a great pleasure to be here. I became president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco just two months ago. In fact, this is my first opportunity to speak in a public forum about the economy and monetary policy since taking on this new role. For a central banker, communication is a critical part of the job. If we are to carry out our mission successfully, it’s essential that the public understands our actions and strategies. Chairman […]