Unless these conflicts are identified and dealt with, at all levels, any reform of the framework is bound to be partial and dealing mainly with failures of the past, rather than address the challenges of the future. The problem is that, by their very nature, conflicts of interest are hardly recognized by those that are directly affected by them.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has long been a partner of the Minnesota Council in its efforts to aid teachers in the often challenging task of teaching economics. I call economic education a “challenging task” not just to make all of you feel special, but because we at the Federal Reserve know those challenges well.