US business inventories up 0.3% in October

Existing-home sales increased by 5.1% in December, according to the National Association of REALTORS® Existing-Home Sales Report. The Report provides the real estate ecosystem – ...

Good morning! And thank you for that kind introduction. It’s great to be here with you. I’d like to thank Chellie1 and the Chamber team for the invitation to speak today. The Chamber and the Philly Fed have a long-standing and important partnership on many programs and that includes the annual Chamber State of the Economy survey that many of you will have filled out. Your input helps us understand the economy and the range of ways organizations and individuals are experiencing and shaping it. You provide the stories behind the data that are a key input into my thinking about monetary policy. My goal today is to leave you with a sense of the important national economic trends and how those trends are playing out here in Philadelphia. I’ll also share some findings from a recent survey that our team did to identify barriers to employment for Philadelphia residents. I hope this will provide good background for the panel discussion focusing on opportunities to create great jobs here in the region. Before I get into the details, please note that I am speaking just for myself and that my views don’t necessarily reflect those of any of my Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) colleagues. Economic Outlook As many of you know, Congress has charged the FOMC with delivering maximum employment and price stability. We define price stability to mean inflation of two percent, as measured by the change in the personal consumption expenditure price index, affectionately know Fed's Paulson: Sees further rate cuts later this year if forecast met. FED’S PAULSON: INFLATION SHOULD BE AROUND 2% RUN RATE BY YEAR END FED’S PAULSON: MONETARY POLICY IS ‘A LITTLE RESTRICTIVE’ RIGHT NOW FED’S PAULSON: IS CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC ON INFLATION MOVING BACK TO TARGET Fed's Paulson: The US is likely to grow around 2% this year.

Thank you, Madame Ambassador, for the introduction and the opportunity to speak today. My topic is the implications of deregulation for monetary policy, an appropriate one for this setting.1 Greece's recovery from the crisis that began in 2009 was only possible after the Greek people implemented substantial and painful reforms, including alleviating suffocating over-regulation in many sectors. In addition to the other reforms embraced by Greece, deregulation freed businesses to compete domestically and internationally, and promoted individuals' access to the economy. The range of reforms has included liberalizing product and service markets, easing licensing and administrative burdens, opening previously restricted professions, and increasing labor market flexibility. The government liberalized electricity and gas utilities; privatized airports, ports, and utilities; and reformed bankruptcy procedures and other business laws. While it is challenging to quantify how these deregulatory actions have affected the economy, there is little doubt that these reforms have supported a remarkable return to economic growth and higher living standards. Macroeconomic stability has returned to Greece. Unemployment has fallen to its lowest level since the Global Financial Crisis, and investment and exports have rebounded. Product and labor market reforms helped restore competitiveness, reduce unit labor costs, and encourage firm entry. By easing the ability of supply to respond to prices, these reforms have improved the transmission of monetary policy. While monetary policy is set by the ECB, its transmission varies in part with how national governments manage their economies. Long-term Greek borrowing rates narrowed their spread to Germany's, below 1 percent, compared with 6 percent a de FED'S MIRAN: DEREGULATION SHOULD PUT DOWNWARD PRESSURE ON PRICES, ANOTHER REASON FOR U.S. CENTRAL BANK TO CUT INTEREST RATES Fed's Miran: If central banks don't accommodate the impact of deregulation, it makes policy too tight, with a needless damper on growth.