Thank you very much for inviting me to be part of the H. Parker Willis Lecture Series. As you know, Dr. Willis was a distinguished professor here at Washington and Lee University. Among many other accomplishments, he helped create the Federal Reserve System. He served as the first secretary to the Federal Reserve Board from 1914 to 1918 and later as the first research director. Before I go further, let me remind you that the views I will express today are my own and are not necessarily those of my colleagues in the Federal Reserve System. Many discussions of monetary policy simply talk about the Federal Reserve ... (full story)