The original speech, which contains various links to the documents mentioned, can be found on the US Federal Reserve System’s website. *  *  *  I am delighted to be here today to help open this important conference. I thank my hosts, President Pianalto and her staff at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, for the invitation.
This year's conference explores a confluence of consumer-related finance issues in the context of the current difficulties in the mortgage markets. In my remarks today, I would like to discuss the key role of consumer credit in our economy and describe how information disclosure and protecting consumers can work to facilitate and promote the efficient functioning of markets for such credit.