The Supervisory  12  BIS Review 154/2010  Council continues to have a mix of administrative and supervisory duties, but its tasks were delimited by the Act of 1985. 40 The Supervisory Council shall supervise the Bank’s activities and ensure that the rules governing the Bank’s operations are observed. The council has its own secretariat, adopts the annual accounts of Norges Bank and approves its budget. The Bank continues in part to be the Storting’s bank. A substantial change has taken place over the past decade in that the Supervisory Council shall no long submit a report on its activities to the Ministry of Finance, but directly to the Storting. This is a partial reversal of the change to the Act that was made in 1949. In my judgement, the tasks of the Supervisory Council could be broadened. Among other things, it should be able to play a greater role in appointments to the Executive Board and Bank management, for example, through a formal right to make recommendations. 41 This could give the Supervisory Council an even greater sense of ownership over the organisation and strengthen their sense of commitment. In central banking circles it is easy to confuse independence, expertise and long-termism with infallibility. 42 Central bank independence in the use of instruments is contingent on central bank transparency and disclosure of the background for its decisions. This provides a basis for evaluating the Bank’s decisions. Moreover, the central bank is accountable.
The cause of this recession—a global pandemic—means that our economic future will be determined in large part by the path of the virus. It’s impossible to know exactly how and when workers and businesses will be fully back to work and when consumers will return to the businesses that are open. Despite the uncertainty, I’m going to spend some time today discussing what the scale of the challenge looks like for New York State, and for the U.S. economy as a whole. I’m also going to outline the Federal Reserve System’s response. The Fed is well-known for setting interest rates. But we play a number of other roles, and have a key responsibility for ensuring that the financial system is working to support the economy, which has been crucial during this crisis. Before I continue, let me give the Fed disclaimer that the views I express are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Open Market Committee or anyone else in the Federal Reserve System. A Diverse State One of the particular strengths of New York State is its diversity—and this is especially true from an economic perspective. In Western and Central New York there are top-tier universities, manufacturing businesses, a thriving professional services industry, as well as popular tourist destinations. Since the 2008 financial crisis, the declining population trend in Upstate New York of earlier decades had largely stabilized. In recent years, new businesses had sprung up and unemployment had fallen to historic lows.