The policies we enact at the FOMC are vitally important for sustaining growth at the national level, but they can’t determine everything that happens at the local level. This is where our community development work comes in. Through our research and outreach, we put data and analysis into the hands of community leaders to give them tools to strengthen their local economies. We have programs that use our convening power to bring together stakeholders to share knowledge—our workforce development program is a key example. And finally, we use our research to catalyze action and investment. Tools such as our resource guidebooks serve as a starting point for investors. Conclusion I started by talking about our goals—keeping prices stable and ensuring maximum employment. These things are essential for a strong and prosperous economy. And while the current picture is complex, the economy is in a good place. But not every community has benefited from the growth of the last decade to the same degree. At the New York Fed, we are committed to understanding what drives growth, economic inequality, and what creates opportunity. Those are the insights that drive my fascination with economics and my commitment to the Federal Reserve and its public mission. Those are the insights from the data we need to leverage, so that all parts of the U.S. economy can reach their full potential. 1 John C. Williams, Monetary Policy: A ‘Data Dependent’ Approach , Remarks at the New Jersey Bankers  Association’s Economic Leadership Forum, Somerset, New Jersey (January 18, 2019).
Zeti Akhtar Aziz: Knowing Nusantara – money that made the region Opening speech by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at the launch of “Knowing Nusantara: Money That Made the Region”, Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery, Sasana Kijang, Kuala Lumpur, 26 August 2014. *  *  *  The Numismatic heritage of the Malay Archipelago is as rich as the region itself. There were few other regions that had such a level of trade that has existed in this part of Southeast Asia. Every type of seafarer had been here over the centuries, bringing with them a wide range of currencies. From Chinese copper cash to South American “pieces of eight”, Nusantara has been a magnet for money of all shapes, sizes and materials. When these are combined with the indigenous currency minted in the Archipelago, the legacy is immense. “Knowing Nusantara: Money that Made the Region” explores the coins and banknotes that have circulated in the Malay Archipelago, telling a story that goes back 2,000 years and that continues to evolve. By telling this story, the objective is to create a deeper understanding of the region. The history of the archipelago is largely about contact and the interconnectivity that existed in the region even during that period. Movement between islands and the mainland are mirrored by the encounters between the indigenous and foreign peoples.