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Essays and speeches by former President Robert S. Kaplan, 2015–21

2016

A Discussion of Economic Conditions, Key Secular Trends and the Limits of Monetary Policy
Remarks before the Economic Club of New York
New York City
November 30, 2016
"Monetary policy is not designed, by itself, to address the key structural issues we face today stemming from demographic changes, lower levels of productivity growth, high levels of debt to GDP, as well as the dislocations created by globalization and increasing rates of technology-enabled economic disruption."

The U.S.–Mexico Economic Relationship and a Discussion of U.S. Monetary Policy
Remarks before the Asociación de Bancos de Mexico
Mexico City
November 4, 2016
"Increased bilateral trade and production sharing between the U.S. and Mexico has resulted in stronger economic integration, rising foreign direct investment and increasing business-cycle synchronization."

Key Secular Trends and Implications for Monetary Policy
Remarks before the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum
Beijing
August 2, 2016
"I believe advanced economies around the world are at the stage where structural reforms, fiscal policy and other government actions need to join the menu of economic policy. That is, to address several of the key challenges we face, there needs to be economic policy action beyond monetary policy."

A Discussion of Economic Conditions and the Role of Monetary Policy
Remarks before the Money Marketeers of New York University
New York
June 23, 2016
"We need to think more expansively about how to generate higher rates of GDP growth. Now, eight years after the Great Recession, we need to take a new and broader approach to our economic policy making."

A Discussion of Key Secular Trends, Economic Conditions and Monetary Policy
Remarks before the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum
London
April 29, 2016
"I am encouraged by the recent uptick in the labor participation rate to 63 percent. I think it suggests that we can make even further progress on so-called discouraged workers reentering the labor force. As a result, we may still have capacity for healthy job growth without overheating the economy or unduly stressing the capacity of the U.S. workforce."

Discussion of Economic Conditions and Implications for Monetary Policy
Remarks before the University of Texas Investment Management Company 20th Anniversary Event
Austin
March 3, 2016
"While I believe that excessive accommodation carries a cost in terms of distortions and imbalances in hiring, asset allocation and investment decisions, I also believe that, at this juncture, the Fed needs to show patience in decisions to remove accommodation. Again, this is particularly true in light of key global secular trends as well as recent developments relating to slowing global economic growth and tightening financial conditions."

Economic Conditions and Monetary Policy in a Changing World
Remarks before the Dallas chapters of Financial Executives International, the Association for Corporate Growth and the National Association of Corporate Directors
Dallas
January 11, 2016
"It is difficult to determine the ultimate impacts of aging demographics, high levels of indebtedness, globalization and increasing disruption. However, these are key issues that policymakers will need to better understand in order to assess economic conditions and formulate appropriate economic policies."

2015

A Discussion of Economic Conditions and Federal Reserve Policy
Remarks before the University of Houston
Houston
November 18, 2015
"In light of all these factors, it will likely be appropriate that U.S. monetary policy remain accommodative for some time. Moreover, a lower-than-usual federal funds rate may well be needed to achieve any given desired level of accommodation. Accordingly, it is probable that the return to “normal” interest rates will be gradual. As a business manager or as an investor, I think these are key messages I would be taking from our FOMC statements."