The writer Cees Nooteboom in “De ontvoering van Europa” [The Abduction of Europe] gives his personal interpretation of Europe’s cultural unity and diversity: “If I am European – and I hope I am starting to get there after almost 60 years of determined effort – this surely means that Europe’s multiculturalism profoundly influences my Dutch identity”. Isn’t this what being European is all about?
And I note that Congress has also recognized your importance, mandating our respective agencies to help support MDIs. From the perspective of someone who sits on the Federal Open Market Committee, I see many ways that the Federal Reserve can not only support MDIs but is itself also supported by them, and I would like to talk about four of these ways today.