the fdic did a study in 2014 that showed the impact and significant social roles that m bi provide in terms of financing and providing home mortgages. in terms of locating a branches -- there branches. we know that if we are able to thengthen and provide sector with the resources it needs for technology. to be all to engage in a powerful way with millennials. to be able to strengthen and broaden and product offerings, then it is so much easier as we talk about all of the benefits, that the entire country will experience by all of us becoming more prosperous. >> mayor reed, how do you think about this concept of investment? when you think about the budget

that atlanta has and the priorities you have, how do you strategize on the investments in your people and where you are really putting the massive effort. mayor: we try to perform along the lines of excellence. what we are doing right now is trying to make sure that we have the bench strength to execute while knowing that the city is one of the biggest multipliers for the economy. is ayou want in a city fair referee and someone that runs a city so that a city does the thing it should do well. exciting time in the life of atlanta. i have about 9000 employees, 8000 on any given day.

what you're having is -- you're having all of the amazing employees who have done the good and noble work of public servants for years, but you have a new generation of individuals interested in public service, and who may have had a wonderful private sector career, but because they actually wanted to spend time in public service doing transformational work, folks like you are joining a government. what i am trying to do is to really meld that so there is not a clash of cultures that is causing the city to perform at a higher rate because more people are moving into cities that are more informed and demanding. how do you pull that off without making sure that the people who were there in public works all along don't get thrown out by a consultant culture that says you

have 400 people cutting the grass, you can cut the grass with 150. that is easy to say, but those 250 people put kids through college, have been with the city 20 years, helped 11 mayors -- this is not easy. time the city at years the, and seven mayor has not raised property taxes. i have not raise water rates. that matters. in the city of atlanta, our water rates were second, third highest bill you had in your house from a time when the water bill used to be $20. runningt i am making is a government while health you to do all of these things that create a more robust economy. they help your life.

jobs up in32,000 atlanta. announcementsjob -- ge comes in at 250. nci comes in at three -- 3500. kaiser permanente has 900. city.s the heart of the it is attracting folks like you like never before. how do i make sure that doesn't push out someone's grandmother? that is really the job of being a mayor today. all of these things wrapped in one. finally i say this, we really have to be more diligent about focusing on transition economics. we have to focus on making sure that we have the ability to train people for multiple jobs in the life of the city.

because now a person growing up in atlanta will have 5-7 jobs. what i want to do is to remove the fear from that so you are excited about multiple jobs as opposed to clenched up in fear about multiple job changes. think the job of mayor is so terrific. on any given day you are sitting six, 7,fice working on 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 topics just like this. >> let me -- >> what he just said. >> go ahead. they're not getting a glass of water out of a fire hydrant. i wante mayor just said, to make sure i wasn't script --

skipped. , in europe basically the poor people are in the suburbs. the inner-city in france is called paris. and inner-city in the uk is called london. , because youca felt uncomfortable around certain people, there was centrally located real estate, to go to hours away from the center of the city, to this, that is changing. my prediction. >> we got a crowd response on that one. , youthin 10 years time heard it here, within 10 years time american inner cities will all be what you might call reclaimed. because people are tired of driving two hours to get home,

fighting traffic. they are tired of it. there finally realizing it is centrally located real estate. what is horrible? upper manhattan. we think it is a black immunity, no, i do manhattan, central park, harlem -- that is changing. you could give away a tear down in harlem for 15 years ago. now it is $70,000 for a tear down and 1.5 million for a brownstone. if you're going to be in the inner-city, buy that house, by the shack, rehab and rented. that is your trust fund. that is your hedge against property. whether they -- poverty. whether you stay there or sell it, it is fair. every inner-city needs to be reclaimed. don't get mad, live well.

by the house, by the shack. go to home depot on the weekend with your boys, comeback, rehab and rented just rent it. from thissage i had gofundme going viral, every time we have a wonderful ribbon cutting that mayor love, i tell people, don't move. if somebody comes knocking on your door, don't sell. at least get a tough negotiator. of all the messages we have been giving out, don't move i hear from business people. hey, we just did a turner field announcement where the braves are moving. in -- we areming coming in with a $350 million development and to turner field with five of the most challenged neighborhoods in atlanta.

pittsburgh, summerhill, georgia state is going right in their. all of those young people will be looking in their college campus. the simple message works. every time we have one of these folks,cuttings i tell unless -- don't let somebody by your house for $10,000. it is amazing how i am hearing it back as i move throughout the city in grocery stores. grandmother came up and said thank you. she called the lawyer in the family because of what i said. she had a nephew or someone in her family that was a lawyer, somebody came and knocked on her mercedes benz stadium, because she said she heard me say, don't move. i put a $1.5 billion football stadium two blocks from your house. some of these simple things --

>> do not think of this as race. when that happens, don't say, that is racism. that is economics. that is capitalism. it is not black or white, it is greed. it is simple economics. bigger piece of the pie. stop getting angry, get even. i am the only speaker they got two minutes. >> that is for the entire. i want to thank you all so much. i want to thank everyone for being here. we have one more speaker before we close. thank you so much. [applause] thank you.

move. heard it, don't [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] >> it is a real pleasure and honor to introduce ambassador andrew young. many of you know this already, but it is such a distinguished career. it is worth calling out all of the many things that ambassador young has done.

he has dedicated his life to serving communities around the pastor, congressman, united states ambassador to the united nations and as another mayor of atlanta, the 55th. as executive director of the southern christian leadership conference he was instrumental in the civil rights movement, including the passage of the civil rights act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965. his lifetime of scarier -- service at all levels of government has earned him a list of truly astonishing recognitions. he served for president carter and bill clinton on a wide range of critical issues from international peace building and national security to civil rights and community development. inspired worksg

have earned him the highest civilian recognitions and honors in two countries. france's legion of honor and the united states presidential metal of freedom. he continues his work today as chairman of the andrew young foundation and is a board member of a martin luther king center andnonviolent social change the united nations foundation. we are humbled to have you here today with us, ambassador young. andring the freeman bank continuing the advancement of access and opportunity for families and communities across the country, specifically families and communities of color. please join me in welcoming ambassador young. [applause] ambassador young: thank you very much.

i am really very proud of all that i have seen and heard here. i don't think you realize that we might just be laying out the agenda for the next decade. that is what i want to try to do. thatt to try to remind us what the friedmans bank was all betweens the friendship frederick douglass and abraham them -- though the civil war was always about slavery, we need to remember valued at $4was billion at the time of the civil war. the next greatest asset of this nation or the railroads which were evaluated at $2.6 billion. if you can forget about race and slavery, that it's hard to do,

but when john and -- what the they have talked about the same thing they are talking about on the television. no one mentioned race. they have been talking about it in quantitative economic terms. what i think god -- john for doing is -- thank john for doing is quantum hating -- quantitative -- martin luther king started the movement to redeem a soul of america from the triple evils of race, war, and poverty. i think we did a great job with race. i think, with jimmy carter, that was four years where nobody got killed and nobody in america killed anybody. if you want to read a new book about that read "jimmy carter in africa race and the cold war."

it was not accidental. he knew what he intended to do and what he was trying to do. he was trying to make this world makes sense without war. that is a direct descendent of martin luther king. received honorary degree from morehouse in 1976. i don't think without that he would've been the president. he got up and said, i intend to be the first morehouse man to be president, but i assure you i will not be the last. have a network of historically what colleges across the country. has africa policy, because he was the only one who would say one man, one vote, one person, one vote. -- boat. the thing we did not do when martin tried to do it he got shot -- that was deal with poverty. race, war, poverty.

the untouched things that we all the wayo do back since the civil war was to deal with poverty. the voice -- dubois says that the failure of the friedmans bank was probably more danger -- damaging to the slavery population than would have been 10 more years of slavery. the truth of it is is it was more damaging to the whole united states of america, but not 10 years, but almost 100. itause if you think about and economics -- in economics, if those farmers and workers who would have been empowered with land -- we made jokes about 40 acres and a mule. but 40 acres and a meal in 1865,

and access to capital, the south would have taken over the north. now -- think about it not about race, but economically , we can deal with it with less emotion. i think that is what bringing this back, the friedmans bank concept reminds us of the economics that were intended by frederick douglass and abraham lincoln. that might have succeeded if he is not been killed. -- if he had not been killed. forgive me, but i believe he kind of got that message in atlanta. it was not just black folk they got it. -- that got it. of -- i don'td

but where he got it from, he bought an old horse barn to make an airport for $90,000. he got a crop duster airline from louisiana to agree to move there. it was one dollar a year for 50 years. he put up red lights on peachtree. they voted him out of office. the crop duster airline was delta. mr. woodruff, of coca-cola and realized, let's face it, there are not enough progressive white people in this town to move it forward as fast as we need to go. so they went to atlanta university.

they met dr. mays and wv to s who is stillboi anding around and clemens vivian henderson, an economist. they put together a coalition of some of the most effective and efficient and aggressive businesses because coca-cola's success was they decided they serveoing to be able to every troop anywhere in the world with coca-cola. patriotic, but it was a good business decision. companya is a worldwide and mayor hartsfield, teaming up with atlanta university, and the brainpower that was there, and all of these guys were probably

the first black phd's from anywhere. but like were phd's, benjamin mays, he was a sharecropper. wasicked cotton until he 14. university of to chicago and all of that and to later. -- until later. king,d, martin luther jackson, tests -- to work in the fields in the summertime. picking tobacco under a shade tree three feet tall and 90 degree heat. he understood that if you are going to lead working people, you had to understand port. -- work. you probably had one of the most exceptional groups of people black or white coming together,

dealing with a problem -- we got nothing here. we got no water. no leg. atlanta got nothing but stone mountain. what are we going to do to become a major city? airport became key. -- the airport became the key. casseine, thanks to and maynard jackson, they just signed a $6.5 billion deal with delta for the g concourse. we had 101 million people come through this year. planesy have these big we have to build a new concourse. e, f, g.d, a seventh runway. that had to cost -- has not

cost the city money. i was trying to get the name, i was trying to find him because i don't how it happened. it was a young fellow by the name of bill hayden. at that time he was with first boston, he was maynard jackson's friend. ally know is they did something that enabled maynard to go to sign his name and come back with the money to start the airport. when i got to be mayor, they told me, q need to go to wall street. i said, what for? -- they said, you need to get a wall street. i said, what for? many said you have to build a third concourse. t concourse. expert said we didn't need it. they had paid somebody to tell us we could not afford it and did not eat it. -- did not need it.

i can go to wall street and sign my name, and i came back with $300 million. i don't understand why. i have been trying to get in touch with bill hayden. facilitateu do to ofroximately $25 billion access to capital to the city of atlanta that has not cost the taxpayer one cent. whatever he did, i don't know why st. louis didn't do it. i don't know why boston didn't do it. they have been struggling with lagardere -- laguardia since i worked there. is still bad. -- it is still bad. there is something that happened in atlanta very special. withnk that it has to do public, private partnerships.

community,ed the business, and government. as the business newspapers and government comes in afterwards. everything i tried to do with mayor, the city council voted down. until i got the business theunity, the citizens, and newspapers behind. that that has worked for us. the city of atlanta was less than one million people when i became mayor in 1982. carolyn, my wife, was saying that she passed the darlington hotel where they keep the sign of the population. now it is 6.9 billion. , st. louis same time has gone down, detroit has gone

down, there is no city growing like that. we figuredng because out how to make capitalism work. to be free enterprise and share enterprise. that was before us -- fair in enterprise. that was before us. i have to give credit to mayor hartfield and mayor alan for bringing the community together and organizing poor people block by block. we could not have gone the mass transit referendum through without that. the head of the woodruff foundation, the big money man in atlanta, they give away anonymous,that is comes from coca-cola money. they had martin luther king senior and calvin craig of the and clayton from

the trumpet awards on the committee, organizing black-and-white block by block. as a result, the next jewish mayor was confronted by poor people saying, one cent sales tax is unfair to the poor. he agreed to lower the bus fare from $.55 to $.15 for 10 years, just to be fair for people. ceo who have any -- who happened to be a lebanese bartender said, these white folks are going to build this mass transit system to get them to the airport. they will never go east or west -- they will never build in east or west line. we decided to build the east, west line first.

with all of that negotiation, but all of that compromise and reasoning together and organization, we still just won by 400 votes. that was the key to it. i was in congress at that time. the 1975 mass transit act i was being passed -- i got a call during the session, while the bill was on the board. at a young architect said andy, can you flip a one line amendment in that? i said, it is too late. he said, will you try? i said, what do you want to say? that this authorizes communities privatee public, development authorities within a half-mile radius of each mass transit station.

the good thing about the congress when i was there was it was a good old boy system. it just happened that the good old boy putting the bill through was from louisiana. he knew i was from louisiana and we used to meet and tell jokes something.ck in the wherever they sell hotdogs behind congress. we didn't agree on anything, but we were friends. i said,they had a vote excuse me, mr. chairman, do you think you could still get this in the bill? he said, let me say. he said, one line, ok, go ahead. when the session opened he said, amendment here that says -- all in favor, bang. amendment approved. that amendment that gave us the right to organize, to create a

public, private developmental corporation was what allowed us to get the art station and the ibm building and the woodruff arts center all it allowed us to build underground atlanta around the downtown stop. we had the real problem where in the next square, there was a little town of about 40 people called johnson town. worth more there was than $20,000. and we could not get them more than $20,000 by law. was a public-private development corporation, we were able to say to them -- you are going to build a 30 story tilting here. why don't you give them an extra $100 on the assessed value. or $20,000,10,000, they got $100,000.

they could do it because of this public-private partnership gave us the capacity to give them a 4.5% interest rate when interest rates were running 9%-10%. and that was something jackson put together that i never understood but i used. and the next thing was that when we got ready to build that airport, we built the mass 20%.it system, they got 20%maynard said -- we got of the hardest work with the lowest profit margin. we are not going to build an airport unless we get 25% of each and every contract. this has got to be fair across the board. well, they fussed and huffed and

puffed and never really understood. built got the airport still on time within budget. it opened on the first of december and i took -- in 1981, and i became mayor in 1982. of january. and because all of that had been done, it seemed to me that it was working so well, let us ease it up to 35%. when people began to see how the airport was growing, how much this was contributing to the was crazyey thought i when they said -- why do you want to be mayor? and i said, i do not. 30, low-down, rotten job and people will blame you for everything but a lady came into the meeting and shook hurricane

in my face and she said -- look here, when you came here, you were nothing. mayor,t we need to as you have not got time for us. have three-- i children in college. and now the mayor's salary is $50,000 a year. i cannot afford to be mayor. -- that sounds like a big money to me. [laughter] and you do not believe in the lord? and she slammed the door and said we wasted our time on you. now, it all worked out. he became an international city. build thatnot let us international terminal. they hired someone to do a study. but i did not wait for the study because i do not know about studies.

and so, we went to germany and we got lufthansa. we heard that air japan was looking for entry into the u.s. and klm from holland. and we put the word out -- look, if you want to be a part of the economy of the 21st century, you have got to be in the u.s. marketplace. in the best place to have access to the u.s. market is atlanta, georgia because we can get you to 80% of the u.s. market within two hours. and most of the places we can get you back the same day and we went around telling people that. before the people finished the feasibility study, we had signed up four airlines. and none ofthat -- this has cost us anything yet. and so, we had figured out the

from the friedman's bank, we made it work for rich and poor, black and white, and it has become the center of a global economy. 2200 germanat least companies in atlanta now. we move poor people out of the because for the olympics. and i was always guilty about that until last week. where we moved them was clayton county. if you look at the newspapers, last week, clayton county was the fastest-growing county in all of the u.s. all of the poor people we moved there did not bring money but they got energy, vitality, the

that-- it also happens porsche came in with all of the money in clayton county. we got a porsche headquarters in clayton county and they provided jobs. why isn't this happening everywhere in america? itrew up in portland's and is not happening in new orleans. john and i went to see president bush at the time of katrina. and i remember growing up on those riverbanks. and i remember the ccc camps. i was warned in 1932 with roosevelt. when i was 4-5 years old i was playing on the river banks with the ccc camps. they have not done anything with that river since about 1940. and it was designed to run and

was 50 yearscture and it has been 80 years. rivergo up and down that and all of the cities are dying. flooding in iowa right now. the flood last year cost $60 billion. geti said -- why didn't you something to do with that. to change it. there, theators up senators all along the river in fact are trying to balance the budget. and they want to cut back on government spending until after the floods. was $17 billion in illinois, $20 billion in louisiana, $60 billion in iowa. why do we not fix it first?

now, i am wondering and this is why i have been working. if we could do a little one and open itndment to capital to come in, private investors from around the world, why can't we mile radius on each side of the mississippi river and people have the capacity if they so choose to create a public-private authority and design the future of the river. now, the mississippi river directly touches 31 states. and all of the cities along the river are suffering. now, that is an agenda -- i

talked to a friend of mine and interestingly enough, the way i find all of this out is i buncher stuff and i had a of high school kids in my office as volunteers in the foundation. i asked them to see if they could find something on the mississippi river development. is there an authority? they said no but there was a tba. they start bringing me stuff from the internet that i did not know how to find. but i said -- what has been going on? why can't we -- another thing we found out -- there is more money loose. when i became mayor, there was more money in petrodollars doing nothing and we had a big debt in the treasury. left, the debt was

about $60 trillion. it is way beyond that. we were able to get those petrodollars to come in from holland, germany, canada, japan -- and $70 billion worth of petrodollars came into atlanta in the eight years i was there and it is still coming. i mean, this is not government is using. it this is private money. now if what they say about tax havens is this -- that there is more money in tax havens -- i don't think of them as tax havens. i say it is scary money. it is not americans but chinese, , the panama papers

revealed all of the money that the iraqi and pakistani generals stole from us in the war and that was supposed to push the scared of extra money's, money i call it, up to $72 trillion. i am sure the safest place in the world to keep your money is in middle america. mississippi,a to one mile on each side. , you find a way to create -- i am talking to you john. john rogers. [laughter] this aerial capital. you just announced that you are creating a trillion dollar development fund for the mississippi valley. and every city of along the way

will be able to apply for it. look, they lost 20% last month sitting in london. let us -- let it sit here. they wouldn't lose any money. they don't know what they are going to do in panama. i have been working on this a while but the answers to the problems of the world go back to the principles of the friedman's bank. and that is why i see this as the launch of the new american involveed attempt to all of our cities, all of our rural areas, all of our mastering then

complexities of a global economy. now, when you add to that the fact that there will be 4.5 .illion people in africa africa will catch up with china and india. india will pass china. china is going to have some problems. they have 104 different nationalities, cultural nationalities that are not a part of the mandarin communist economy. so they will be struggling for a while but india will be doing better. billion ig areas and we don't have any access to the markets in africa. left,ron brown and i everyone seems to be scared of africa. and we need to take that on now -- we got a 25 year head start but if we come in there with ideas and money and

talented people and create relationships, i think we will see the dreams of the friedman's and iulfilled in our time am one that believes that coincidence is god's way of remaining anonymous. when i looked at this young man and remembered marching with his and then secretary and iquoted the bible said something from the bible and he knew it. something is happening here. people up here including john are people who are capable of shaping the world if they just got over the business that you do not wait

for the congress to decide. you do it. it is easier to start it out and along.em tag because you do not need their money. sure that theam senator up there in iowa -- it is raining now. up,el like noah, and hurry the flood is here. you have the money, the brainpower -- thanks, and god bless you. [applause] >> a final thank you to austin, louisiana -- luisa for joining

us with this conversation. we hope it is not the last. thank you again and enjoy your day. [applause]

>> the smithsonian national museum of african american history and culture opens its doors to the public for the first time today and c-span will on the national mall at 10:00 a.m. eastern for the outdoor ceremony. speakers include president obama and lonnie bunch. watch the opening spare money for the smithsonian museum of african american history and culture. on c-span.orgtime and listen live anytime on the c-span radio app. on wednesday, federal reserve chair janet yellen and announced that federal fund rates would remain unchanged but the case a rate hike has increased. she also said that politics did not play any role in her decision. this is about an hour.

ms. yellen: good afternoon. at our meeting that concluded earlier today, my colleagues and i on the federal open market committee discussed overall economic conditions and decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at one quarter to one-half percent. we judged that the case for an increase has strengthened, but decided for the time being to wait for further evidence of continued progress toward our objectives. our current policy should help move the economy toward our statutory goals of maximum employment and price stability. i'll have more to say about our decision shortly, but first i will review recent economic developments in the outlook. economic growth, which was subdued during the first half of the year, appears to have picked up. household spending continues to be the key source of that growth. the spending has been supported by solid increases in household income as well as by relatively

high levels of consumer sentiment and wealth. business investment, however, remains soft, both in the energy sector and more broadly. the energy industry has been hard hit by the drop in oil prices since mid 2014 and investment in that sector continues to contract through the first half of the year. however, drilling is now showing signs of stabilizing. overall, we expect that the economy will expand at a moderate pace over the next few years. turning to employment, gains averaged about 180,000 per month over the past four months, about the same solid pace recorded since the beginning of the year. in the longer run, that's well above the pace that we estimate is needed to provide work for

new entrants in the job market. but so far this year, most measures of labor market slack have shown little change. the unemployment rate in august, 4.9%, was the same as in january and a broader measure of unemployment has also flattened out, a measure that includes people who want and are available to work, but have not searched recently, as well as people who are working part time but would rather work full time. the fact that unemployment measures have been holding steady while the number of jobs has grown solidly shows that -- presumably in response to better employment opportunities and higher wages have started actively seeking and finding jobs. this is a very welcome development, both for the

individuals involved and the nation as a whole. we continue to expect that labor market conditions will strengthen somewhat further over time. ongoing economic growth and an improving job market are key factors supporting our inflation outlook. overall consumer price inflation, as measured by the price index for personal consumption expenditures, was less than 1% over the 12 months ending in july. still short of our 2% objective. much of the shortfall continues to reflect earlier declines in energy and import prices. core inflation, which excludes energy and food prices that tend to be more volatile than other prices, has been running about 1.5%. as transitory influences holding down inflation fade and as the

job market strengthens further, we continue to expect inflation to rise to 2% over the next two to three years. our inflation outlook also risks -- rests importantly on our judgment that longer run inflation expectations remain reasonably well anchored. however, we can't take the stability of longer run inflation expectations for granted, and we will continue to carefully monitor actual and expected progress toward our inflation goals. indeed, we are fully committed to achieving our 2% inflation objective. let me turn to the economic projections now extending thru 2019 that were submitted for this meeting by the federal open market committee participants. as always, participants condition their projections on their own view of appropriate monetary policy, which in turn depends on each participant's assessment of the multitude of factors that shape the outlook. the median projection for growth

of inflation adjusted gross domestic product, or g.d.p. is 1.% this year. this figure is somewhat lower than projected in june as a result of the weaker than expected growth seen in the first half of the year. in 2017 and 2018, the median growth projection is unchanged at 2%. somewhat higher than the median estimate of longer run normal growth. in 2019, growth edges down to 1.8% in line with its estimated longer run rates which has been revised down a bit since june. the median projection for the unemployment rate stands at 4.8% at the end of this year. a touch higher than in june. over the next three years, the median unemployment rate runs near 4.5%, modestly below the median estimate of its longer run normal rate.

finally, the median inflation projection is 1.3% this year and rises to 1.9% next year and 2% in 2018 and 2019. returning to monetary policy, recent pickup in economic growth and continued progress in the labor market have strengthened the case for an increase in the federal funds rate. moreover, the committee judges the risk to the outlook tore be roughly balanced. so why didn't we raise the federal funds rate at today's meeting? our decision does not reflect a lack of confidence in the economy. conditions in the labor market are strengthened and we expect that to continue. while inflation remains low, we expect it to rise to our 2% objective over time. but with labor market slack being taken up at a somewhat slower pace than in previous years, scope for further

improvement in the labor market remain and inflation continues to run below our 2% target. we chose to wait for further evidence of continued progress toward our objectives. this caution approach to paring back monetary policy support is all the more appropriate given the short-term interest rates are still near zero. which means we can take strong inflation pressures in the future by raising rates than to a weakening of the labor market and falling inflation by cutting rates. we continue to achieve and maintain our objectives. that's based on our views that the neutral, nominal federal funds rate that is the interest rate that is neither

expansionary or contractionary and keeps the economy operating on an even keel is currently quite low by historical standards. with the federal funds rate modestly below the neutral rate the current stance of monetary policy should be viewed as modestly accommodative, which is appropriate to foster further progress toward our objectives. but since monetary policy is only modestly accommodative, there appears little risk of falling behind the curve in the near future and gradual increases in the federal funds rate will likely be sufficient to get to a neutral policy stance over the next few years. the median projection of the federal funds rate rises only gradually to 1.1% at the end of next year, 1.9% at the end of 2018, and 2.6% by the end of

2019. compared with the projections made in june the median path to the federal funds rate has been revised down a quarter to one-half percentage point. most participants also mark down their estimate of the longer run normal federal funds rate with the median now at 2.9%. as i noted on previous occasions, participants projections for the federal funds rate including the median path are not fixed plan for future policy. policy is not on a preset course. these forecasts represent participants' individual assessments of appropriate policy given their projections of economic growth, employment, inflation, and other factors at a particular point in time. however, the economic outlook is inherently uncertain and any

assessment of the appropriate path through federal funds rate will change in response to changes to the economic outlook and associated risks. finally, we will continue to reinvest proceeds from many, many -- from maturing treasury securities and principal payments from agency debt and mortgage backed securities. as our statement says we anticipate continuing this policy until normalization of the level of the federal funds rate is well under way. maintaining our sizable holdings of longer term securities should help maintain accommodative financial conditions and should reduce the risk that we might have to lower the federal funds rate to zero in the event of a future large adverse shock. thank you. i'd be happy to take your questions.

>> steve leesman, cnbc. critics of the federal reserve have said that you look for any excuse not to hide that the goal posts constantly move. and it looks like new goal posts now. you said looking for further evidence, evidence that labor market slack is being taken up. could you explain what for the time being means in terms of a time frame and what that further evidence you would look for in order to hike interest rates and also this notion that the goal posts seem to move and that you've indeed introduced a new goal post with this statement. thank you. ms. yellen: i'll try to respond to those questions. let me try to set out again how the committee sees the economy and what we're looking for. we're generally pleased with how the u.s. economy is doing. growth was weak in the first half of the year, we're seeing evidence that the economy is now

expanding more strongly. as i mentioned, payroll gains in recent months have been solid, averaging around 180,000 per month which is less than the pace in 2015, but as i mentioned, it's well above what's needed to provide jobs for new entrants into the labor force, over time. the unemployment rate is pretty close to most estimates of its longer run equilibrium value. but as i mentioned that rate and other measures of labor utilization are little changed since the beginning of the year. i don't see that as bad news because it may reflect that the strong labor market is attracting people from outside the labor force back into employment. the labor force participation rates increased on balance since late last year.

it is on a declining demographic trend and the fact that it increased shows substantial number of people that are being attracted into the labor market. the employment to population ratio is also continued to increase. now we were not really certain that this is something that would happen as the labor market strengthened and it is good to see that development has taken place and that is some news that we've received in recent months that the labor market does have that potential to have people come back in without the unemployment rate coming down. so we're not seeing strong pressures on utilization, suggesting overheating, and my assessment would be based on this evidence that the economy has a little more room to run than might have been previously thought.

that's good news. remember that inflation continues below 2%, although we expect it to move up over time. so the committee agrees that risks to the outlook have become roughly balanced. we expect labor market conditions to continue strengthening. and we are generally agreed that gradual increases in the federal funds rate to remove what is a modest degree of accommodation will be appropriate, but we don't see the economy as overheating now. my colleagues and i exchanged views at this meeting on the appropriate timing of the next step in reducing policy stimulus. most of us judged that the case for an immediate increase in the federal funds rate is stronger, but it would be sensible given

the finding of a bit more running room to wait to see some continued progress evidence that we continue to progress toward our objectives. so for the time being, we're going to watch incoming evidence and you can see from the report that most expect that one increase in the federal funds rate would be appropriate this year and i would expect to see that, if we continue on the current course of labor market improvements and there are no major new risks that develop and we simply stay on the current course. >> howard schneider with reuters. i was wondering if you could comment on the apparent tension between the steady drift down in the long run rate and the steady

drift down in some of the projections and the seeming march toward a rate hike? if the neutral rates coming down over time and continues coming down and you're eating up accommodation that way anyway, why not wait for the dust to settle on that before moving on. >> it is true that our estimates of the neutral rate are coming down and that's what is largely responsible for that shift. at the same time, we generally agree that the stance of monetary policy is somewhat accommodative. so 180,000 jobs a month is a faster pace of employment growth and is sustainable in the longer run. we have seen people come into the labor force and making more than what would be expected which is why the unemployment rate hasn't fallen because that's not something that is possible without the economy overheating on an indefinite basis.

so policy needs to be forward looking, we don't want the economy to overheat and significantly overshoot our 2% inflation objective. that's one risk that we need to address. and i think we generally agree that some gradual increases to remove that accommodation will be appropriate if we stay on this course. but as i emphasized, it's not that much accommodation and the economy has shown evidence that there are more people who are being attracted back into the labor force. so in that sense, infield characterize it as the economy has a bit more running room. nevertheless, we don't want the economy to overheat and if things continue on the current

course, i think that some gradual increases will be appropriate. mainly what we discussed today were issue affecting the timing of such increases. >> marty kritzinger with associated press. last month you seemed to raise expectations that there could be a rate hike in september. other fed officials talked and seemed to support that. the fed president had some comments that sent the markets plunging, governor brainerd seemed to draw back. is this hurting the fed's credibility, do you think? or is this just a normal thing we should be looking for at this time, this uncertain -- uncertain time with the economy. ms. yellen: i did say at jackson hole that the case for a rate increase had strengthened and

that assessment is included in today's statement. i think most of my comments agree with that assessment. i think we are trying to understand some difficult issues, there is less disagreement among participants in the committee than you might think listening to speeches and commentary. i think we all agree that the economy is making progress, that we are close to an unemployment rate that is one that's sustainable in the longer run. we all agree we are undershooting our inflation goal and that we want to make sure we stay on a course that raises that to 2% and we're struggling with difficult set of issues about what is the new normal in this economy and in the global economy more generally, which explains why we keep revising down the rate path.

and it's very important that in a body like ours that a whole range of views are expressed, that we have independent-minded people who gather together and discuss these issues. my colleagues do explain in their individual speeches, their own perspectives. these are complicated, complex issues and it took this -- it just is not straightforward how to interpret what is appropriate policy and exactly what is going on in the economy. my sense is that market participants and the public more generally learn more about the issues that we're grappling with as they listen to this set of speeches and i think it's a very

good thing that the fmoc is not a body that suffers from group think. you see that's one of the, you know, real worries in an organization that everybody thinks identically. but there's a lot that we share in common and express both in our statement and our speeches, and we're debating and discussing issues pertaining to timing. >> chair yellen, donald trump, the republican presidential nominee has charged that the fed is keeping interest rates artificially low to support the obama administration. i'd like to hear what you have to say to that charge. on a related note, i want to ask you about the fed's next policy meeting, which is in early november, a week before the election. given that the case for raising rates has strengthened, should the public see that meeting as a meeting where rate action could happen? ms. yellen: i think congress

very wisely established the federal reserve as an independent agency in order to insulate monetary policy from short-term political pressures. and i can say emphatically that partisan politics plays no role in our decisions about the appropriate stance of monetary policy. we are trying to decide what the best policy is to foster price stability and maximum employment and to manage the variety of risks that we see affecting the outlook. we do not discuss politics at our meetings and we d not take politics into account in our decisions. as i said, we're generally pleased with the progress of the economy and the decision not to raise rates today and to wait for some further evidence that we're continuing on this course

is largely based on the judgment that we're not seeing evidence that the economy is overheating and that we are seeing evidence that people are being drawn in in larger numbers than at least i would have expected into the labor market and that is healthy to continue but nevertheless we do need to be forward looking and if we continue along this course, it likely will be appropriate to raise the federal funds rate. and november you asked about as well, every meeting is live and we will again assess as we always do, incoming evidence in november and decide whether or not a move is warranted. >> madam chair, craig torres

from bloomberg. what observable data would convince you and the committee that this neutral federal funds rate is starting to move up? there's a popular piece of research by one of your colleagues that suggests that it's at zero right now and second, i'm struck by our opening remarks, that the economy isn't overheating. but does that mean the committee sees this global reach for yield going on right now as very low cost to its policy? thanks. ms. yellen: you asked first what evidence would suggest that the neutral rate is moving up? i think if you saw us revising up our growth forecast, revising down our estimates with an unchanged path for policy, if you saw this you would see revisions in the funds rate path. but if unemployment were moving down faster than we had anticipated, if we saw faster growth or upward pressure on inflation that would be suggestive of the

appropriateness of re-evaluating whether or not the neutral funds rate had increased. i mean, the downward revisions reflect the fact that while the economy has made a lot of progress, it's only made that progress in the context of a monetary policy that has been characterized by extremely low interest rates and negative real yields for a very long period of time. let's see. then you asked about global factors. so global factors, capital flows -- >> i ask about the global reach for yield and whether the committee saw that as a cost to its accommodative policy right now. ms. yellen: so in most advanced nations now, we have highly accommodative policies and they

seem to be necessary for countries to be able to achieve their inflation and employment objectives. and that's characteristic of an environment in which the neutral rate, interest rates, both here and in advanced countries around the globe, appear to be very low. and that is an environment that if we do have to live with that for a long time, we have to be aware that it does give rise to a reach for yield as individuals and investors seek to perhaps take on risks or lengthen maturities to seek higher yields and i think we should be concerned about that to the extent it creates financial stability risks and we are very aware that those are possible. we engage in regular assessments

of financial stability factors that bear on financial stability. overall, i would say that the threats to financial stability i would characterize at this point as moderate. not -- i mean, so, we characterize it as moderate, in general i would not say that asset valuation are out of line with historical norms but there are areas my colleague president rosenghrin is focused on real estate where price ratios are high or cap rates are low. that's something that has caught our attention. we have a variety of tools other than monetary policy to address such risks. we have recently issued new supervisory guidance pertaining to commercial real estate.

i would say in the area of commercial real estate, while valuations are high, we are seeing some tightening of lending standards and less debt growth associated with that rise in commercial real estate prices. but more generally, we're not seeing signs of leverage building up or maturity transformation in the way we saw in the run up to the crisis and we're keeping a close eye on that. >> two quasi-related questions. one, bill dudley earlier this year suggested that a political uncertainty in the u.s. may be one of the depressants on business investment at the moment. i wondered if you'd seen further evidence that election risk was one of the reasons businesses are holding back at the margin. the second was a followup on your jackson hole speech where you presented a fairly optimistic speech.

you did raise the question of automatic stabilizers in the u.s., however. are you concerned that there is insufficient fiscal backup to the fed, it's being lumped on the shoulders of central bank if there is a fresh downturn? >> starting with the issue of political uncertainty and investment, investment spending really has been quite weak for some time. and we're really not certain exactly what is causing that. part of it, of course, has been

the huge contraction in drilling activity associated with falling oil prices but the weakness and investment -- weakness in investment spending expends beyond that sector and i'm not certain of exactly what explains that, whether i'm not aware of evidence that suggests that it's political uncertainty but it's certainly, i would agree with the finding that it has been weak. consumer sentiment is perfectly solid. we're seeing a lot of strength in consumer spending and consumer sentiment certainly seems to be solid. you asked about scope for further monetary policy action. i was careful in jackson hole, i indicated we have a number of tools that we've used before and could use again. i did indicate that i do have concerns about the scope for monetary policy, nevertheless, at this point, our balance sheet is large and we're not at what we see as the normal level, longer run level of interest rates so at the moment the funds rate is very low. it's below that normal level. so at the moment, i would say the zero lower bound is a concern and we have less scope than i would like to see or expect us to have in the longer run. now, i think it would be

worthwhile for other policymakers to think about what role they could play in addressing negative shocks should they come and i mentioned specifically automatically -- automatic stabilizers because i think that's an important way in which fiscal policy serves to cushion shocks to the economy and it would seem to me without getting into specifics that there are ways in which the responsive fiscal policy to shifts in the economy could be strengthened which would help take some burden off monetary policy. >> in the run up to the brexit vote earlier this year, several policymakers cited it as a reason they were reluctant to raise rates in june. in the run-up to the

presidential election i have not heard any fed policymaker give that as a reason to delay raising rates in november. could you explain why the fed regards brexit as a greater danger to the american economy as the national election? and there were three disagreements on the vote here, could you explain those three disagreements? ms. yellen: we are very focused given the way the economy is operating, on fostering our goals. i'm not going to get into politics. those are factors we don't consider and i'm not going to get involved in commenting on the election. in terms of the dissents, as i indicated, the notion that we do have some accommodation if we

continue on the current path, it's something that we will need to remove over time. there's general agreement among participants on that, but the precise timing of what is the right, what is the right timing for removing that accommodation is something on which we had active discussions and there are a range of opinions and the dissents represent a judgment on the part of some of my colleagues that it's important to begin that process now. i certainly agree, and i've said myself, that there are risks in waiting too long to remove accommodation. we need to take a forward looking approach. i've always advocated making policy based on forecasts of where the economy is heading and

taking account of risks. and there are two particular risks that we need to think about and balance, one is the risk that the economy runs too hot, that unemployment, the labor market tightens too much, that unemployment falls to a very low level. that we need to tighten policy in a less gradual way than would be ideal and in the course of doing that, because that is very difficult thing to accomplish, to gently create a bit more slack in the labor market, which could -- we could cause a recession in the process. that's something my colleagues and i certainly wouldn't want to be responsible for. we would all like to have a very long expansion with the labor market operating well for many years to come and the prospect

that we could create -- create downside risks for the labor market is something we would like to avoid and taking a stitch in time might be essential to avoiding that. on the other hand, inflation is running below our 2% objective and it's also important that we make sure we get become to 2% and i have routinely indicated a number of measures of inflation expectations that are running at the low ends of their historical range and we're watching that as well. and there would also be risks from not seeing inflation move back to our 2% objective and exactly how to balance these two risks, which is more serious, which is a more serious risk can affect one's judgment about the appropriate timing. we're all struggling to understand the magnitude and nature of those two risks.

>> rebecca jarvis, abc news. chair yellen, at a time when the american public is losing faith in many institutions, did the fmoc discuss this as an opportunity to dispel the thought that the fed is politically compromised or beholden to markets. ms. yellen: the federal reserve is not politically compromised. we do not discuss politics in our meeting. i can't recall any meeting i have ever attended where politics has been a matter of discussion. i think the public if they had been watching our meeting on tv today, would have felt that we had a rich, deep, serious, intellectual debate about the risks and the forecasts for the economy and we struggled mightily with trying to understand one another's points of view and to come out at balanced place and to act

responsibly and that's my commitment to the american people, that i want to lead an institution that is not political and is -- that we are striving to do our very best to pursue the goals that congress has assigned to us, which are important ones of price stability and maximum employment. >> does it concern you, given what donald trump has said at this point about the federal reserve, that he could go back, if he were president and look at the minutes and look for signs of the fed being politically motivated and find them? ms. yellen: i have no concern that the fed is politically motivated and i will assure you that you will not find any signs of political motivation when the transcripts are released in five years. we -- it is important that we maintain the confidence of the public and i do believe that we deserve it.

i know that these are difficult decisions and everybody may not agree with them, but i hope the public will understand that we're striving to do our best to pursue these goal it's a do matter to all of us. >> nancy marshall with marketplace. you mentioned commercial real estate. are you worried -- worried that bubbles could form in the economy because of our prolonged low interest rates? >> yes, of course we are worried that bubbles could form in the economy and we routinely monitor asset valuations. while nobody can know for sure what type of valuation represents a bubble, that's only something one can tell in hindsight, we are monitoring these measures of valuation and commercial real estate valuations are high.

rents have moved up over time. but still valuations are high relative to rents and so it is something we have discussed, we called this out in our monetary policy report and in other presentations and we are in our supervision with banks as i indicated, we have issued supervisory guidance to make sure that underwriting standards are sound on these loans and we're aware, this is something also that we look at in stress tests of the larger banks to see what would happen to their capital positions and to make sure that they hold sufficient capital. of course, i think the soundness and state of the banking system has improved substantially. but of course we are focused on such things. >> chair yellen, over here. quick question on regulation and

the scandal at wells fargo over phony customer accounts. i know that there are other regulators that have looked into this but you all are also a regulator of wells fargo. has the fed opened a separate investigation into these practices at wells fargo? and wouldn't you because they do involve issues of consumer protection, potentially of risk management and corporate governance and are you looking at -- broadly across the banking system right now? >> in this specific case, the abuses that occurred took place in the national bank the comptroller of the currency has

responsibility there, and on the consumer side it is the cfpb that has responsibility. but we work cooperatively and closely with those organizations and in terms of our overall supervisory responsibility for wells and other large banking organization well, are very focused and this will be a particular focus of our supervision. going forward over the next year or so on the compliance environment to make sure that the controls that the senior management oversight, that the involvement of the boards of directors, are appropriate to control these kinds of risks. we have been distressed to see banking organizations responding when a particular problem arises and what we'd really want to see is robust procedures that ensure that employees are always acting in a legal and ethical manner and that the incentives put in place in these organizations are

appropriate and don't serve to foster behavior that could harm the public. and this has been and will be a focus of our supervision. and this has been and will be a focus of our supervision. >> miss. yes. >> over the past year we've seen american policymakers begin to have maybe our most serious discussion about tariffs in the last several decades. if tariffs were to be enacted in the coming year or so, does the fed have an opinion on what that would do to growth in america? ms. yellen: that's a political issue that's currently being debated that i really don't want to get into. you know, i'm going to pass on that one. >> john helman, american banker. back to wells, or related to

wells -- one of the questions that this scandal has raised is that the bank itself says it doesn't know what was happening , and there are thousands of employees involved in this. some are calling for a breakup, saying the banks are too big to manage. do you think that leaving aside the question of wells specifically, do you think it's possible for a bank to get so big that it can't be managed and perhaps the best prudential step would be to break it up? ms. yellen: so, we have high expectations for what we expect to be in place in a large organization, or in any banking organization. we expect there to be robust systems of risk management, strong audit functions, a board of directors that is monitoring and supervising and holding senior management accountable.

-- management accountable for things that happen throughout the organization. and a strong compliance environment. and i don't think that these are impossible standards to meet. they may be challenging, but i would not at this arrive at the point, conclusion that just because an organization is large , they cannot live up to those standards and those are our , expectations and we intend to hold banking organizations responsible for putting in place that kind of risk management and compliance environment. so i'm not endorsing a general , conclusion that banks of that size are too big to manage. i believe they can be. but it may be challenging and that's what we expect.

>> their chapter from bloomberg television. madam chair, thank you. i have a question about the rate trajectory the fed outlined today, that while there's clearly a wide range, the median expectation if is for the feds fund target to rise by a half percentage point in 2017, three quarters of a point in 2018 and a further three quarters of a point to 2019 bringing us to 2.5% to 2 and three quarters percent. after same time, the median forecast for g.d.p. growth is 2% for the next two years and 1.8% thereafter. and i should add the most optimistic projection is for growth of 2.5% of all the projections outlined here. if economic growth is going to be that slow for that long, where will the inflationary forces emerge that would require tightening of 250 basis points from where we are now, and if not inflation, is there some other explanation?

ms. yellen: so, the projections, i agree the projections for growth are slow. we have further written down our estimate of the longer run normal growth rate, and what that reflects is an assessment that productivity growth is likely to remain low for an extended time, although it does embody the expectation that it will pick up from the miserable half percent pace we have seen over the last five years. now, why we would never -- and slow growth is a factor. so productivity growth is a factor that influences the longer run normal level of interest rates, and writing down the likely pace of productivity growth is one factor that is responsible for the downward

shift in the path that you see for the federal funds rate. that is an important reason for revising down the neutral rate. but now let's go to your -- the part of your question about inflation. in spite of having such slow growth, disappointing productivity growth, we have labor markets that last year generated an average of about 230,000 jobs a month and so far this year, has been generating about 180,000 jobs a month and that is a very solid pace of job growth, and a pace that likely is not sustainable in the longer run, although we've been pleased to see people come back in the labor market, so it certainly is sustainable for some further amount of time. but i think what ultimately drives inflation, both wage and

price growth is that tightness , in the labor market and pressure on resource utilization , and the sad fact is that we , are getting that healthy pace of job market growth with very slow growth in output. so this is -- i don't think it bears on the inflation outlook. it has prompted a downward shift in the projected path for the neutral and actual federal funds rate, but it is a huge concern because slow productivity growth ultimately means slow growth in living standards and that's a , big concern that policymakers should be focused on. >> hi, victoria with politico. back to wells fargo. obviously this is more of a , consumer finance kind of a question but i'm wondering if , you think it does pose safety and soundness questions if something like this is

widespread across a big bank? you mentioned this would be a supervisory focus over the coming year. are there any adjustments you can speak to that might be warranted given these revelations? ms. yellen: as i mentioned, we are going to be focusing on compliance risk management, and , board oversight, not only at wells but also across bank , holding companies. issues andconsumer , issues that involve consumers can become safety and soundness issues and if there was at least , one of the lessons from the financial crisis, i think, is that abuses of consumers of the sort that we see -- that we saw in subprime lending ultimately did become safety and soundness issues and so of course we need to have that concern and we'll focus there.

i think i can't really at this point give you specifics beyond that. a large number of congressional democrats as well as a campaign of hillary clinton would like bankers removed from the boards overseeing the regional banks. other reformers but like to see private ownership of the regional feds ended in the regional feds be brought fully into government. what do you think about those two proposals? : we have a system which the governance of the reserve banks involves banks contributing capital and serving on the boards of directors. inside one recognized the federal reserve that when we

are charged with supervision of banks, having bankers involved in that presents conflict of interest, and we have put in place very strong measures to ensure that those conflicts of interest are not allowed to play out in any way. that bankers are not allowed to be involved in supervision. . frank change the arrangement , andat only the class b class c can only participate in the selection of the president as well. think -- i want to make sure the public has confidence that in spite of the fact that we do have this banker involved in our boards of directors, that it is not giving rise to any conflicts in our actual conduct of policy. up -- if that set

up has changed, it raises, it is up to congress to decide what to do here. it raises complex issues about the governance arrangement in the reserve banks in the federal reserve. i was simply cautioned that the fed has looked at that congress is entitled to do that they think through carefully what the ramifications of making changes would be. >> karen with market news international. you mentioned the need to be forward-looking, but you pointed to the economy not overheating as a reason you could hold off on raising rates at this point. monetary policy is operated with long invariable lags. do you think this time i exchanged since the financial

crisis, or due to the use of unconventional tools that the howused, and that -- and does that factor into your decision-making? ms. yellen: the notion that military policy -- monetary policy operates invariable lags, it is one of the essential things to understand about monetary policy and is not fundamentally changed at all. that is why i believe we have to be forward-looking. and i am not in favor of the whites in their eyes approach. we need to operate based on forecasts. but the u.s. economy has changed a lot. history does not always the play itself. many of those of us sitting around the table, the learned the lesson that of policy is not

forward-looking, that inflation can pick up to highly undesirable levels. inflation expectations can be dislodged upward. the consequence of that could be higher inflation takes place, to reduce.ry costly would wantnone of us to relive an episode like that. colleagues that it is important to be looking and we will not make that mistake again. at the structure of the economy changes. the nature of the inflation process is changed significantly 1970'she days of the where the fed has to face the inflation problem. we have seen inflation respond less to the economy, to

movements in the unemployment phillips curve has become flatter, so we have seen less of a response. that is something we need to factor into our decision-making. inflation expectations seem to be bitter anchored, and that is a result of low and stable inflation. that is something we do not have a 1970's. we have to be attentive to the fact that we have had a long period in which inflation is undershooting 2% --undershooting our 2% objective. i would conclude that inflation expectations are reasonably well anchored to 2%. we are seeing signs suggesting possible slippage. we are a long way from facing the problems japan faces, but there should always be a reminder that we would not want

to find ourselves in a period where inflation is chronic ,erunning below our objective inflationary expectations are slipping, and with a little neutral rate, that becomes more important. the principle of for looking, -- >> patrick, cnn. you mentioned the economy's major problems, low productivity growth. one of the solutions is better job skills. many economists say some workers are staying on the sidelines because they lack new job skills, the one that would help them obtain better employment. the fed does not have the authority to finance for run job training programs, but would you want that authority from congress? that at all frustrating you and your colleagues know one of the solutions to fixing a major problem in the economy, but you cannot take the concrete steps to solving that issue? ms. yellen: i do think that job

training and job skills are work int, and we do community development, trying to , and the local community where the reserve banks operate, to try to foster broader understanding of what kinds of communityork, and how organizations and state and local governments can put in place programs that will be helpful. a program visited that was very impressive in philadelphia. andsited some in chicago other places, so i do believe it is possible to design programs that will help people overcome obstacles in getting jobs that are available. , while wenitely think can play a role in facilitating an understanding of what works and does not work that can be

helpful, it is certainly worthwhile for policymakers at the federal level and state and local level, to be focusing on this because i think it is an area that would be helpful in making progress. thank you. as we have gotten to this 4.9% unemployment rate through this year's long recovery, we have yet to see substantial pickup and wage growth. it seems as if the american middle class expresses this up ointment and that -- expresses disappointment on that. ms. yellen: i think we have seen modest pickup and wage growth. it is running a little bit higher than it was the last two years by a number of important measures. we have seen income growth pickup recently.

report was senses encouraging, showing there are income gains both because of more jobs and higher paying jobs, and that is occurring throughout the income distribution, is helping many families. expect thepect, we unemployment rate to decline further. we expect labor market conditions to continue to improve. and my hope and expectation is that we will see further pickup in wage growth, and that it will be probably beneficial to american households. >> thank you. >> the smithsonian national museum of african american history and culture opens its

doors to the public for the first time today, and c-span will be led from the national mall starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern for the ceremony. speakers include president obama and founding director lonnie bunch. live the opening ceremony today at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. watch live at www.c-span.org and listen live on the c-span radio app. president obama and first lady michelle obama hosted a reception at the white house on the use of the opening of the smithsonian's national museum of african american history and culture. the president spoke briefly to those assembled. we will speak -- we will hear from the director of the museum, lonnie bunch. this is about an hour. [applause]

>> i never got a chance to say this. welcome to the white house. [applause] >> i just want to thank president and mrs. obama for having us here at the white house to celebrate what i think is something that we will all remember. the chance to finally create on the national mall a museum that will help us all remember the rich history of the african-american community, and i want to thank all of you because you have given a gift to america. thank you so much for your support. [cheers and applause] president obama: welcome, everybody! [cheers and applause] is an exceptionally good-looking group. [applause] and there are so many friends ofe that it feels like one our house parties. [laughter]

but, there is no dancing this afternoon. acknowledgejust to what an extraordinary achievement has been accomplished by mr. lonnie bunch. [cheers and applause] and everybody who helped make this day possible. now, i want to just talk about lonnie for a second. when lonnie first came here from chicago to start -- [laughter] to start work on this museum a decade ago, he could not even find somebody to give him a key to his office. [laughter] nobody had heard of this museum. and now you cannot miss it. a breathtaking new building right in the heart of the national mall. and that is what we call

progress. it could not have been done without the persistence, the , them, the dedication savvy, the ability to make people feel guilty. [laughter] egging, the dealmaking, and just the general streetsmarts of lonnie. and his entire team. so, please from a big round of applause. [cheers and applause] but, of course, this is also about more than lonnie. this is about people who, for more than a century, advocated and organized and raised funds and donated artifacts so that

the story of the african-american experience could take its rightful place in our national memory. that is full of tragedy and setbacks, but also great joy and great victories. that is notstory just part of the past, but it is alive and well today in every corner of america. and that is certainly true today in this house. e-house that was built -- a house that was built by slaves. now, i cannot name everybody tot is here, but i am going have to give you a little bit of a taste. this room is like a living museum of its own. right now, madame tucson would

be very jealous. [laughter] we have got icons in the entertainment industry like quincy jones. [cheers and applause] and the firstry, mayk woman in space jamison. and we have the woman who owns the universe, oprah winfrey. [cheers and applause] got those trump majors for justice like john lewis. [cheers and applause] and andrew young. and jesse jackson. and we got the next generation of war years for justice like britney patton. we have got personal here is a mind like harry belafonte. [cheers and applause]

cosell is the best looking man -- who still is the best looking man in the room and 90 something years old. and i am just telling the truth. [laughter] so this is an extraordinary group. the thing about this museum is that it is more about -- it is more than just telling stories about the famous. it is not just about the icons. there is plenty of space for harriet tubman, dr. king and mohammed ali, but what makes a museum so powerful and so visceral, is that it is a story of all of us. the folks, the names you have never heard of, but whose contributions, day after day, decade after decade, combined to push us forward and the entire nation forward.

maids who decided, you ofw what, i am tired segregation, and i am going to walk to my freedom. the porters who not only worked tirelessly to support their families, but brought about the organization that led to better working conditions for all americans here in the united states. it is about our moms and grandparents and uncles and aunts who just did the right familiesd raised great despite assaults on their dignity on every single day. you see it in the dignity of the artifacts that are in the of whatthe dignity

immensely family would have been like to live in a tiny cabin. folks who were forced to sit in the back of the train and tried to instill in their children that this is not who we are. and there is going to be more someday. you see it in the minimum women who rushed to the war fronts to secure all of our freedom, understanding that when making home, they might not yet be free. walked past who angry crowds to integrate our schools. the families huddling around a steer their fate for the challenges ahead. the quiet, determined dignity and hope. everybody here has somebody in

mind when we think of those kinds of folks who could not make it to this room, but whose stories are our stories. and whose stories are represented at this museum. it might be an ancestor who ran or unclem, or an aunt who pushed back against jim crow, or a friend marched or sat in. or it could be young people organizing against cynicism today. but the point is that all of us cannot forget that the only reason that we are standing here is because somebody, somewhere stood up for us. stood up when it was risky. stood up when it was not popular. and somehow, standing up together, managed to change the world. know, the timing of this is fascinating.

[applause] because in so many ways, it is the best of times. but in many ways, these are also troubled times. history does not always move in a straight line. vigilance, we could go backwards as well as forwards. reason that i the am so happy the museum is becausethis weekend is it allows all of us as americans circumstancesrent in an historical context. that as people are

seeing what has happened in tulsa, or charlotte on television, and perhaps are less familiar with not only the history of the african-american experience, but also how recent some of these challenges have , upon visiting the museum, may step back and say, i understand. i sympathize. i empathize.- i can see my folks may be angry, and i want to be a part of the solution as opposed to resisting change. folkse is that black watching those same images on seeing the and then

history represented at this museum, can say to themselves, the struggles we are going through today are connected to the past, and yet, all that progress we have made tells me that i cannot and will not sink into despair because if we join hands, and if we do things right, if we maintain our dignity, and we continue to appeal to the better angels of this nation, progress will be made. [applause] i was telling michelle, many of you know i get 10 letters a day from constituents, and it is a great