*  *  A courageous mission  Ladies and gentlemen Ever since the idea of an integrated Europe first arose, political convergence has been accompanied by scepticism and even by fears. How could nations and cultures with various languages, mentalities and histories develop a common understanding of government and administration?
Among the surveys the Fed conducts are the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices and the Senior Credit Officer Opinion Survey on Dealer Financing Terms. In addition, the staff at the Federal Reserve Board uses disaggregated and high-frequency data to estimate the state of the economy in real time.