Chicago Federal Reserve President Michael Moskow has visited Tsinghua SEM on March 26 and delivered a lecture to students, sharing his insights towards>UScurrent economic situation and making remarks on its outlook. The Chicago Bank chief also introduced the functions and operation of US Federal Reserve System which serves as US central bank and has decisive influence inUSmonetary policy-making process.

When talking about US marcoeconomy, Mr. Moskow mentioned that in 2006, the country’s economy weathered some periods of uneven growth and a sharp decline in housing activity; however, he believed the housing slowdown did not spill over to weaker growth in other sectors of the economy; the real gross domestic product, or real GDP increased 3.1 percent last year. In addition, Mr. Moskow said, according to their estimate,the housing sector, which has been the most significant area of concern for the Fed,is in the process of stabilizing and that by the second half of the year of 2007, as he said, “housing will start to pick up again.”

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Mr. Moskow also said that the Fed was united in its belief that inflation inUSeconomy is too high and the predominant concern for the Fed is to curb inflation. But he added that he believes there is enough slack in the economy to bring about a drop in inflation in late 2007 and in 2008. And he said theUSeconomy would be in a well position in the long term and it would be stable in the years to come.

Mr. Moskow also introduced the functions and operations of US Federal Reserve System, which serves as the nation's central bank. The system was created in 1913, consisting of a seven member Board of Governors with headquarters inWashington,D.C., and twelve Reserve Banks located in major cities throughout theUnited States. Moskow said the Federal Reserve Bank is a unique institute in US which plays several roles in the nation’s economic activities, such as conductingAmerica’s monetary policy, supervising and regulating banks and protecting consumers’ credit rights, maintaining the stability ofAmerica’s financial system and providing financial services to government, the public, financial institutions, and foreign financial institutions. The Chicago Fed is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks across theUnited States.

Michael H. Moskow took office as President ofChicago Federal Reservein 1994, as the eighth president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank ofChicago. His career includes service in the public and private sectors, as well as academia. He has been confirmed by the Senate for fiveU.S.government positions.