The American people have a right to know how the Federal Reserve is carrying out its responsibilities and how we are using taxpayer resources. One of my principal objectives as Chairman has been to make monetary policy at the Federal Reserve as transparent as possible. We promote policy transparency in many ways.
* * *  The origin of the global financial crisis In 2008 the global economy faced a calamity unparalleled since the Second World War. The crisis had been preceded by a mood of over-optimism in several advanced economies. Expectations about future income were at odds with slowing underlying growth, giving rise to an “expectations gap”.