This is now overshadowed by the restriction embodied in the obligation to issue earmarked government bonds for the pension funds. Why is this a restriction? •  Because the reduction of the debt burden is achieved by diminishing the budget deficit; only by doing that will it be possible to decrease borrowing by issuing bonds.
Chairman Crapo, Ranking Member Brown, and other members of the Committee, I am happy to present the Federal Reserve’s semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress. Let me start by saying that my colleagues and I strongly support the goals the Congress has set for monetary policy—maximum employment and price stability.