Janet L. Yellen’s Speeches

Introduction Today the Federal Reserve faces some of the greatest challenges in its history as it strives to restore economic growth, job creation, and financial stability and to preserve price stability. To achieve these policy objectives, the Federal Reserve is committed to using every tool at its disposal. The challenges are all too well known. Almost eighteen months since the onset of the now-global financial crisis, the functioning of financial markets remains greatly impaired, and diminished credit flows are impeding the ability of households and firms to borrow and spend. As a consequence, the U.S. economy is undergoing a sharp contraction, […]

I’m delighted to have the opportunity to comment on the papers of my distinguished colleagues, Martin Feldstein, John Taylor, and Alan Auerbach at a session devoted to a topic of such critical policy importance. With the U.S. economy in a year-old recession, marked by a particularly sharp contraction in recent months, and ensnared in ongoing financial market distress, fiscal policy intervention is certainly needed. It is important that it be informed by the kind of cogent thinking and analysis that these papers embody. I agree with Marty that the current downturn is likely to be far longer and deeper than the […]

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for inviting me to speak to you today. This conference on “The Mortgage Meltdown, the Economy, and Public Policy” could not be more timely. The mortgage meltdown is far from over, the economy and financial markets are still reeling from it, and policymakers have responded by taking some of the most momentous steps in decades. Today I’d like to consider these developments from my perspective at the Federal Reserve. I know you also will be hearing from Chairman Bernanke later in the conference. As always, these are my own views and not necessarily those of my colleagues in the Federal […]

Good evening. It’s a pleasure to have the chance to speak with you tonight, and I’m very grateful to your colleague and mine, Ken Wilcox, for inviting me to do so.  I have come to know him well during his tenure as a member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and I thank him for his service. He and our other Directors not only provide oversight for the management of the Bank, but they also give us valuable, real-time information on what is happening in their industries and their local economies.  This information is of […]

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for coming. It’s always a pleasure to visit Los Angeles, where our Reserve Bank has a major branch, and I’m honored by the invitation to speak to you today. My remarks today will focus on conditions in the U.S. economy. There is a lot to cover, but I plan to leave a few minutes for questions and hope you will share with me your own perceptions concerning the economy and its prospects. Regrettably, the nation’s economy has been in rough waters for over a year now. Last summer, a precipitous slide in house prices triggered […]

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for coming. It is always a pleasure to visit Salt Lake City. Our branch office was established here in 1918, and the Fed’s ties to this community are long and deep. This morning, the directors of our Salt Lake City Board met with their counterparts from Seattle and Portland to discuss economic trends and to share insights on factors affecting the outlook for both our region and the nation as a whole. The Fed’s Twelfth District comprises nine western states, 20 percent of the American population and economy, and one-third of the country’s landmass. We […]

Good afternoon everyone. It is a pleasure to be here today. On behalf of my colleagues at the San Francisco Fed, I would like to thank you for taking the time to participate in this symposium, and more specifically, to engage in a discussion of what strategies are needed to stabilize communities in the wake of foreclosures. This discussion is critical: not only to minimize the negative impacts of foreclosure on borrowers and neighborhoods, but also to help promote local and regional economic recovery and growth. The rapid rise in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures has had significant negative ripple effects, and […]

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you very much for coming. The topic of my talk today is the nation’s economic outlook. I recently returned from a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, where we voted to leave our policy target, the federal funds rate, unchanged for the time being. The discussion around the table focused on three developments that for some time have been presenting serious challenges to the Federal Reserve in meeting its dual mandate of low and stable inflation and maximum sustainable employment and economic growth. These three developments, of course, are the housing slump, the financial market […]

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for inviting me to meet with you. The topic of my talk today is the nation’s economic outlook. I recently returned from a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, where we voted to leave our policy target, the federal funds rate, unchanged for the time being. The discussion around the table focused on three developments that for some time have been presenting serious challenges to the Federal Reserve in meeting its dual mandate of low and stable inflation and maximum sustainable employment and economic growth. These three developments, of course, are the housing slump, […]

Good morning.  I’m delighted to be part of the Northern California Regional Financial Planning conference this year.  I’d like to thank the organizers for inviting me and for giving me an opportunity to talk about the U.S. economy and the conduct of monetary policy to such a large and knowledgeable group of professionals.  Most, if not all, of you have been first-hand witnesses to one of the most significant economic shocks in our memories—one that is seriously affecting the U.S. outlook.  I mean, of course, the events that have been roiling U.S. and global financial markets since midsummer of last year […]