* * * Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the 35th Annual Economic Policy Conference of the National Association for Business Economics.
Before we begin our conversation, I want to share a few thoughts about the outlook for the economy and monetary policy.1  Current Economic Situation and Outlook The U.S. economy expanded at a robust pace in 2018, and my baseline outlook for 2019 foresees somewhat slower but still-solid growth in the year ahead.