Ben S Bernanke: Clearinghouses, financial stability, and financial reform Speech by Mr Ben S Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, at the 2011 Financial Markets Conference, Stone Mountain, Georgia, 4 April 2011. The original speech, which contains various links to the documents mentioned, can be found on the US Federal Reserve System’s website.
Given the scheduled removal of blanket deposit insurance in the spring of 2005, time is running short for us to engage in the further restructuring of the financial system to restore the soundness of the banking system. Moreover, the decline in bank lending illustrates not only that demand for loans is weak but also that the risk-taking ability of banks has not recovered sufficiently.