* * * I would like to thank the Group of Thirty for inviting me to participate in their International Banking Seminar and also thank Luis Alberto Moreno of the Inter-American Development Bank for hosting this event. My comments today will focus on U.S. economic prospects and monetary policy.
In addition, consumer spending has continued to post moderate gains, supported by solid growth in real disposable income, upbeat consumer confidence, low borrowing rates, and the ongoing effects of earlier increases in household wealth. By contrast, business investment has remained relatively soft, in part because of the drag on outlays for drilling and mining structures that has resulted from earlier declines in oil prices.