Thank you, Peter, and thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. I confess I am not an expert on Santa Barbara County's diverse economy, beyond my abiding interest in the excellent wines you produce. But you will hear more about the regional outlook from the other two speakers and so I'll focus my remarks on a broader perspective of the U.S. economy and how the data is shaping my policy views.1 Let me cut to the chase—in my view, data since the last meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has not provided sufficient clarity as to what we should do with our policy rate at the next meeting. We ... (full story)