And, most importantly, we must establish a culture of lifelong learning. That would help ensure that people experience the changing requirements of the labour market more as an opportunity and that they could look with greater confidence towards a longer working life. Incidentally, lifelong learning reduces the mismatch between existing and needed qualifications, in turn contributing to greater productivity.
I look forward to working closely with the members of this Committee on issues of monetary policy as well as on matters regarding the other responsibilities with which the Congress has charged the Federal Reserve System. The U.S. economy performed impressively in 2005.