Faster, cheaper, more transparent, and more inclusive cross-border payment services would have widespread benefits for citizens across the globe both directly and by supporting economic growth, international trade and global development. International work to enhance cross-border payments  The challenge of cross-border payments has been on the agenda for a long time. But bringing about change in this multi-dimensional area is not easy. It requires strong international collaboration and commitment. It was, therefore, very welcome that enhancing cross-border payments was set as a priority for the Saudi Arabian Presidency of the G20 this year. This important G20 initiative has been structured around a three-stage process at the international level:  Stage 1 was an assessment undertaken by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) working with other standard setting bodies, including the Committee for Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI), to identify the challenges and frictions in cross-border payments. The work, which was published in April this year3, identified seven underlying frictions that together contribute to challenges around cost, speed, access and transparency of cross-border payments. While a number of these frictions are related to technology (such as legacy platforms, and fragmented and truncated data formats), it is not simply a technology issue. It is a multi-faceted challenge also including issues such as divergent compliance checks, differing operating hours of payment systems and the liquidity costs associated with funding payments. Stage 2 was the development of the building blocks needed to remove these frictions.
I’m here today to speak about how some of those changes are showing up in the economic data as it relates to the recovery. But it’s also important to remember that behind the numbers are families, businesses, and communities that have suffered and continue to face tremendous challenges of all kinds. In my remarks this afternoon I’ll share more about how what we are seeing in the incoming data relates to the economic picture nationally and to this region. I’ll also highlight some of the unique inflation dynamics we are seeing. Finally, I’ll explain what that means for monetary policy and the path forward. Before I continue, I need to give the standard Fed disclaimer that the views I express today are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) or others in the Federal Reserve System. Dual Mandate I know there are a lot of economics students in today’s audience. I won’t quiz you about the Federal Reserve, but one aspect of our work that you may be familiar with is the Fed’s “dual mandate.” These are the two goals set by Congress: maximum employment and price stability. Given these goals, our focus is studying and understanding the wide range of developments that affect employment, unemployment, and inflation. The Economic Outlook So, what are these developments telling us about the current economic outlook? I’ll start by saying that the economy continues to grow at a strong rate.