*  *  *  It is indeed an honor to be invited today to address such distinguished guests at this conference. The duty of a central bank is to contribute to sound and sustainable economic growth through price stability, though the legal description of its objectives may differ from country to country.
In general, it implies nudging the economy in the direction of raising the overall rate of national saving. It is theoretically possible for an economy to save so much that the long-term path of consumption per capita is actually lowered, but generally economists believe that the U.S. economy is well short of that saturation point.