governor brainard talked about that in another of her speeches last week. rep. hill: last month the chinese regulators bailed out a bank, a $14 billion loan they

does the board see it similarly as governor brainard? >> we haven't taken a proposal to the board yet. no, that represents the thinking of the -- she has been working on this. i asked her to lead this effort for us. she's the head of that committee for some time. i'm very comfortable with the thinking that's in that speech and, you know, support that set of ideas and that approach, but it's not at a place where we can say this is a proposal from the fed because we haven't taken it to the board yet. >> thank you. >> the gentleman from florida, mr. posey, is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, madam chair. mr. chairman, the world is experiencing a dramatic growth in the space economy and many are marveling, actually, at the expansion of civilian space launches. i represent the kennedy space center and, obviously, we're really excited about all of that. really excited about all of that. now, several estimates put the current level of global space economy at well over $400 billion a year with a growth rate of 8% from 2018 to 2019. in

governor brainard talked about that in another of her speeches last week. >> thank you for that. the last month, the chinese regulators bailed out

did the board see it similarly as governor brainard? chair powell: that represents the thinking -- i asked her to lead this effort for us. she was the head of that committee for some time. i am very comfortable with the thinking in that speech and support that set of ideas in that approach. it is not a place where we can thethis is a proposal from fed because we haven't taken it to the board yet. rep. waters: the gentleman from florida, mr. posey, is recognized for five minutes. rep. posey: thank you. the world is experiencing dramatic growth in the space economy, and many are marveling at the expansion of civilian space launches. i represent the kennedy space center, and obviously, we are really excited about all that. several estimates put the current level of global space economy at well over $400 billion a year, with a growth rate of 8% from 2018 to 2019. in december, the bureau of economic analysis announced creation of a space economy satellite account and a collaborative effort to measure the relative importance of the space sect

governor brainard talked about that in another of her speeches last week. >> thank you for that. the last month, the chinese regulators bailed out a bank it was a $14 billion loan that they arranged through one of their sovereign wealth funds the chinese banking assets at $41 trillion now are 47% of world gdp. is instability in chinese banking industry pose a financial threat to the global financial system is it a financial virus like they have already contributed a physical virus >> you know, generally, as i am sure you are aware, china has had very high debt to gdp for an economy at its stage of development, and that includes the banking system and the government has actually for several years now been taking measures led i think by the central bank to try to control the growth of debt and they have been -- they have stuck to thatthrough the last couple of years even those were challenging years economically for them so it is something they are addressing the other thing to say is that they have plenty of fiscal space. if you look fiscally, they have plenty of power to respond

i have read governor brainard's very comprehensive views on the topic. occ's also discussed the point of view. as a former community banker, it is my view that we should ultimately have one approach to the cra. i have had 40 years of dealing with inconsistency in delivery of regulatory proposals. ultimately, i believe it would be productive for us to have one approach to the regulation and modernize it for the digital world that we live in today. i look forward to your presentation today and i yield back. >> i want to welcome to the committee our distinguished witness, jerome powell. chairman of the federal reserve system. he has served since 2012 and as its chair since 2017. esther powell has testified before the committee and i believe he does not need any further introduction. without objection, your written testimony will be made part of the record. you are now recognized to present your oral testimony. you,man powell: thank chairwoman waters and other members of the committee. i am pleased to present the semiannual monetary policy report. my colleag

have either you or governor brainard taken the cra proposal to the federal reserve for jet? >> no. we haven't. really our focus was on trying to get on-site around when proposal with the occ and the fdic, and now we see ourselves as waiting to learn more from the process. for thoseve of committees of, ts is quickly important and i hope the fed will show leadership in make sure that the community participation continues to be a hallmark of what the cra is all about. >> thankue you and that concluds the questions. although i am going to come back and ask one quick question that wasn't on my list to start with. he asked about, mr. chairman, about wages and a just want to ask, what do their fight a statistic with you that i am familiar with. my understanding is wage 1% last year. >> that's average hourly earnings for the 12 months ended december 31. >> did that make 18 straight months that the wage rate was about 3%, the wage growth rate? >> i would have to check there. it takes you back, really you not look at each month. you're looking at over the last, the levels, 3.1% higher. we ca

this has always been handled by a different group, which is dcc a, which governor brainard chaired, and i asked her to take the lead on this. i am very comfortable with where we are on this. sen. tillis: thank you. i was going to ask some questions similar to senator toomey's. i won't. but i will submit some questions for the record that are just basically about the mechanics of the fed implementation. thank you. sen. crapo: thank you. senator jones. sen. jones: chairman powell, thank you for being here. that me echo other colleagues on both sides of the isle regarding the independence of the fed. industrially it is -- it is extremely important that we maintain that independence. let me ask you about homeownership. it kinda follows up on what senator kennedy was talking about, wealth gaps between 70 americans. nationwide -- between 70 americans. nationwide homeownership -- between so many americans. nationwide homeownership is stable, but african-american homeownership rates fell to a low in 2017, about 30 points below white homeownership. the hispanic rate is just 48%, far below the wh

this has always been handled by a different group, dcca, which governor brainard chaired. i am very comfortable with where we are on this. >> i was going to ask questions similar to senator toomey's. i will not. i'm only going to send out some questions for the record which are about the mechanics of implementation. thank you. >> senator jones. >> thank you mr. chairman. chairman powell, thank you for being here. let me echo other colleagues on both sides of the aisle regarding the independence of the fed. i concur it is extremely important that we maintain that independence. i want to ask you about homeownership. it follows up a little bit with what senator kennedy was talking about, wealth gaps between so many americans. nationwide, homeownership is relatively stable, but there is also massive disparities in homeownership by age, race, ethnicity. african-american homeownership rates fell to a 50 year low. it remains 30% 30 points below white homeownership hispanic homeownership. millennials are less likely to own a home by age 34 than their parents or grandparents. i am

chair power governor brainard suggested in a speech last month that the federal reserve created a database000 public cra evaluations looking at how various cra investments support low and moderate income communities. has the fed used this database to evaluate how bank activities would be assessed under the occs and fdic's proposal for cra? >> if i understood your question whether we used our database to evaluate their proposal? >> that's right. >> i'm not totally sure we have. maybe i can provide a little context, if that's appropriate, if i may, which is just that we do agree that this is a good time to update cra in light of changing technology and demographics, and we agree on the goals. we've put a lot of work into this, we tried hard to get on the same page and weren't able to do that and have some different ideas. >> does the fed intend to do this assessment? >> excuse me >> introduce intend to do the assessment that i reference regarding the database to evaluate bank activities and how they would be assessed under occ and fdic's proposal for cra? >> the real point of that database w

coming after a senior staff shake-up as the former front brainard tries to remain relevant and the rivalsr attention to other contenders. >> we are in a moment where billionaires control not only our economy but >> buttigieg is not taken the bait. >> what i admire about senator sanders and still do it is simpson c. >> the first thing we skipped iowa. >> the bloomberg strategy of waiting until super tuesday is less about other democrats but about trump. >> i'm not insecure with who i am and i'm comfortable with people disagreeing with me and telling me so. i have two daughters. what do you expect? >> the former mayor was endorsed by the former navy secretary for president trump. >> i'm tremendously concerned. democracy is around the world are under threat. >> this being warren campaign is confronting a tough deadline. a half dozen women of color have left warren campaign with a complaint of toxic working government where minorities felt tokenized and senior leadership what their loggerheads >> i believe these women completely and without reservation. i apologize that they had a bad experie

question,dez: final either you -- have either you or governor brainard taken a proposal to the federal reserve board yet? chair powell: no, we haven't. our focus was trying to get on one proposal with the occ and fdic. now we see ourselves as waiting to learn more from that process. sen. menendez: for those communities of color, this is critically important, and i hope that the fed will show leadership in this regard make sure that the community participation continues to be a hallmark of what the cra is all about. sen. crapo: thank you. that concludes the question, although i am going to come back and list one quick question. you have been asked a lot today about wages. i just want to verify a statistic with you that i am familiar with. my understanding is that wage growth was 3.1% last year. chair powell: that is average hourly earnings for the 12 months ending december 31. sen. menendez: did that make 18 straight months that the wage rate was above 3%, the wage growth rate? chair powell: i would have to check that. really, you are not looking at each month. you are looking at the le

that would be a piece of that, and nadja heard governor brainard talked about that in a number of her speeches. >> thank you. last night the chinese regulators build out, $14 billion loan that they arranged, the chinese banking act set at $41 trillion, 47% of world gdp. his instability in chinese banking industry pose a financial threat to the global financial system, is a financial virus like they were to contribute in, a physical virus? >> generally they have had very high debt and that includes the banking system. the government is actually for several years now, been taking measures led by the central bank to control the growth of that and they start to that through the last couple of years even though those were challenging years economically it was something they were adjusting but it's safe to say they have plenty of physical space. they have plenty of power to respond to downturn. i would not go as far to say as their debt is suspended. >> i think it deserves review, we talked about the misallocation of resources. at 47% of global gdp seemed like an over allocation in the bank

is the board seen similarly as governor brainard. mr. powell: that represents the thinking -- she has been working on this and i asked her to leave this effort for us and has been head of that committee for some time. i'm comfortable with the thinking that is in that speech and support that set of ideas and that approach, but it's not at a place where we can say that is a proposal because we haven't taken it to the board yet. ms. waters: the gentleman from florida, mr. posey, is recognized for five minutes. mr. posey: the world is experiencing a dramatic growth in the space economy and many are marveling at the expansion of civilian space launches. i represent the kennedy space center and we are excited about all that. several incidents have put the level of current space economy at $400 billion a year with a growth rate of 8% from 2018 to 2019. in december, the bureau of economic analysis announced the creation of a satellite account. a new effort to measure the space sector on the u.s. economy with the special emphasis on the commercia

governor brainard talked about that in another of her speeches last week. rep. hill: last month the chinese regulators bailed out a bank, a $14 billion loan they arranged through one of their sovereign wealth funds. arechinese banking assets 47% of world gdp. instability -- does instability in the chinese banking industry pose a threat to the global financial system, is it a virus like they already contributed a physical virus? chair powell: generally, as i am sure you are a where, -- as i am sure you are aware, china has had a high debt to gdp for this stage in the economy. the government has actually been by the central bank to try to control the growth of debt. they stuck to that through the last couple of years, even those -- even though they were challenging years economically. it is something they were addressing. the other thing to say is they have plenty of physical space. , they have power to respond to downturns. i would not go so far as to say their debt is a systemic threat to the world economy or anything like that. it is something they need to addr

governor brainard gave a speech about central bank digital currency and why developing countries need it, weak financial institutions and payment systems and domestic currencies. we don't face those nearly to the same degree. what i'm talking about is the need to have a dollar that is competitive in world markets and earned its position over the last century. that's why we replaced the pound and maintained that position against the euro. i don't want to see where we have a sputnik moment with our currency which we are no longer the world's deserved currency. thank you for your willingness to serve. >> senator jones. mr. jones: i appreciate you have not had as many questions. i do want to direct my questioning to dr. shelton. dr. shelton, in 2011, there was a guy named bernard vonn nothouse and he was convicted in a north carolina federal jury of making, possessing and selling $60 million of his own precious currency. the u.s. mint had to issue a warning about this because he was -- they had to issue a warning that it was not legal tender and marked with u.s.a. and said trust in god in