Today, I would like to talk about economic activity and prices in Japan and the recent conduct of monetary policy based on their developments, and then discuss in detail the characteristics of the labor market and wage formation in Japan. I. Recent Economic and Price Developments and the Bank's Conduct of Monetary Policy Economic and Price Developments Let me start with economic developments.
2 As we evaluated the substantial volume of public comment in response to the paper, the Fed also conducted research; met with a wide set of stakeholders, including banks, merchants, technology companies, consumer organizations, and others; and worked to enhance our own payment services.