Regional President Speech

1 ~ ~ 5 Luncheon Comments 67'! Chicago Public School Workshop August 9, 1991 ~ ' L ~~ /\J~,.,, -~ts ~ c..,/( {k,{r,' - (\A4 I. GREAT PLEASURE. >~ (~ , ~.-4. ~1/\,,,I. \ Cc-v{ <;.vc .:r L L l - A. HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN A NUMBER OF WORKSHOPS FOR CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS--HAPPYTO DO SO AGAIN THIS YEAR. B. LIKE TO THANK ALL OF YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO PARTICIPATE--APPRECIATE YOUR EFFORTS. II. ESPECIALLY PLEASED TO BE HERE BECAUSE I THINK ECONOMIC EDUCATION IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT. A. HAVE SERVED ON THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE ILLINOIS COUNCIL ON ECONOMIC EDUCATION FOR PAST FIVE YEARS. 1. AN EXPERIENCE THAT HAS STRENGTHENED MY BELIEF IN ECONOMIC EDUCATION. Digitized for FRASER https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 2 Ill. FED SYSTEM, AND OUR BANK, HAVE TAKEN A VERY ACTIVE INTEREST IN ECONOMIC EDUCATION IN PAST DECADE. A. MUST CONFESS WE HAVE A SOMEWHAT VESTED INTEREST IN THIS EFFORT. 1. BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND ECONOMICS AND THE FEDERAL RESERVE WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE MORE INFORMED JUDGEMENT REGARDING OUR ACTIONS. 8. THERE'S BEEN A FAIR AMOUNT OF CONFUSION OR MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT THE FED THROUGH THE YEARS. 1. BACK IN THE MID-1970S, FEDERAL RESERVE CONDUCTED A STUDY IN AN ATTEMPT TO GAUGE THE PUBLIC'S UNDERSTANDING OF THE FED. 2. SURPRISING NUMBER OF ADULTS THOUGHT THE FEDERAL RESERVE WAS A NATIONAL PARK, A GAME PRESERVE, OR EVEN A BONDED BOURBON. 3. WE'VE MADE SOME STRIDES SINCE THEN, BUT STILL ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT. Digitized for FRASER https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 3 IV. STILL ONGOING DEBATE ABOUT SOME ASPECTS OF THE FED. A. JUST LAST WEEK, LEGISLATION WAS INTRODUCED THAT WOULD SIGNIFICANTLY ALTER THE FED'S STRUCTURE BY SHIFTING ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR MONETARY POLICY TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS IN WASHINGTON, D.C. 1. NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT CHANGES HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED. 8. THUS FAR, HOWEVER, THERE'S BEEN A BROAD CONSENSUS IN CONGRESS THAT THE FED'S PRESENT STRUCTURE SHOULD NOT BE CHANGED. C. GIVEN THIS PUBLIC DEBATE, THINK IT IS INCUMBENT UPON US TO STEP FORWARD AND ACTIVELY ENCOURAGE THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE FED. V. CERTAINLY NOT ALL OF THE TOPICS THAT WE'VE COVERED IN THE WORKSHOP ARE DIRECTLY APPLICABLE FOR ALL OF YOU. A. UNDERSTAND THAT MANY OF YOU ARE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS. B. DON'T EXPECT YOU TO GO BACK TO THE CLASSROOM AND DISCUSS THE POLICY ISSUES THAT WE'VE TOUCHED ON. Digitized for FRASER https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 4 1. ALTHOUGH I HOPE THAT THOSE OF YOU WHO TEACH IN THE EARLY GRADES WOULD CONSIDER COVERING THE FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF MONEY. 2. AND THOSE WHO TEACH IN LATER GRADES MIGHT CONSIDER DISCUSSING THE IMPORTANT ROLE THAT BANKS PLAY IN THE LOCAL AND NATIONAL ECONOMY. VI. BUT ALSO HOPE THAT WE'VE GIVEN YOU A SENSE OF SOME BROADER ECONOMIC CONCEPTS THAT ARE USEFUL FOR BOTH HIGH SCHOOL AND ELEMENTARY STUDENTS. A. ECONOMICS BASICALLY THE STUDY OF THE ALLOCATION OF SCARCE RESOURCES AMONG UNLIMITED WANTS AND NEEDS. B. INVOLVES A CERTAIN NUMBER OF MATHEMATICAL EQUATIONS AND CHARTS AND GRAPHS, BUT IT IS ULTIMATELY AN ART AS WELL AS A SCIENCE. 1. AS INDICATED BY THE FACT THAT MANY UNIVERSITIES CONFER A BACHELOR OF ARTS IN AWARDING AN ECONOMICS DEGREE. Digitized for FRASER https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 5 C. ECONOMICS ATTEMPTS TO EXPLAIN WHY INDIVIDUALS MAKE CHOICES AND THE COST AND IMPLICATIONS OF THESE DECISIONS. 1. ALSO ANALVZES HOW SOCIETY MAKES CHOICES AND HOW THE INDIVIDUAL FITS WITHIN THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM. 2. MORE THAN JUST ABSTRACT LAWS AND THEORIES- HELPS US TO BETTER UNDERSTAND OURSELVES AND OUR SOCIETY. D. CONCEPTS OF SCARCITY, COSTS, INCENTIVES AND TRADE OFFS ARE ALL PART OF EVERYDAY LIFE. 1. IN A BROAD SENSE, THINK ECONOMICS TEACHES THAT ALL INDIVIDUALS, AS WELL AS OUR SOCIETY AS A WHOLE, ARE FACED WITH CHOICES-- 2. THESE CHOICES INVOLVE A VARIETY OF TRADE-OFFS WITH DIFFERENT LONG-TERM AND SHORT-TERM COSTS. 3. AN IMPORTANT CONCEPT FOR STUDENTS OF ALL AGES. Digitized for FRASER https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 6 4. AND ALL PART OF THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS HERE AT THE FED. A. HOPE THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BETTER PERSPECTIVE ON SOME OF THE TRADE-OFFS THAT WE FACE IN CARRYING OUT OUR RESPONSIBILITIES. VI. AND HOPE THE OVERVIEW THAT WE'VE PRESENTED IN THE PAST WEEK WILL HELP YOU IN TEACHING SOME OF THESE ECONOMIC CONCEPTS. A. TEACHING THESE RATHER ABSTRACT IDEAS IS A SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE. 1. JUST ONE OF MANY THAT YOU FACE. C. HOPE THIS WORKSHOP WILL HELP YOU IN TAKING ON THIS DIFFICULT TASK. VII. TALKED ABOUT THE VERY SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES THAT YOU FACE EVERY DAY. A. ALSO LIKE TO BRIEFLY DISCUSS SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CHALLENGES FACING THE FED. Digitized for FRASER https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 7 (Approximately 10 minutes on challenges facing the Fed.) I. LIKE TO CONCLUDE BY THANKING YOU ONCE AGAIN FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS WORKSHOP. A. AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, I THINK ECONOMIC EDUCATION IS VERY IMPORTANT. 1. NOBODY PLAYS A MORE IMPORTANT ROLE IN THIS PROCESS THAN YOU. 2. APPRECIATE THAT YOU'VE TAKEN THE TIME AND EFFORT TO BE HERE. B. AS A SMALL INDICATION OF OUR APPRECIATION WOULD LIKE TO PRESENT CERTIFICATES MARKING YOUR COMPLETION OF THE COURSE. 1. BELIEVE NANCY HAS AGREED TO ASSIST ME. (Teachers will walk to front of room as their name is announced to receive certificates from Mr. Keehn. Nancy Goodman will read the name of each teacher. Each certificate will have a teacher's name on it. Certificates will be in same order as the announcement of the teachers' names.) Digitized for FRASER https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 8 II. THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN. A. BELIEVE NANCY HAS A COUPLE OF CONCLUDING COMMENTS. Digitized for FRASER https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Silas Keehn (1991, August 8). Regional President Speech. Speeches, Federal Reserve. https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/regional_speeche_19910809_silas_keehn

@misc{wtfs_regional_speeche_19910809_silas_keehn,
  author = {Silas Keehn},
  title = {Regional President Speech},
  year = {1991},
  month = {Aug},
  howpublished = {Speeches, Federal Reserve},
  url = {https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/regional_speeche_19910809_silas_keehn},
  note = {Retrieved via When the Fed Speaks corpus}
}