Having been chastised by the Democrat-controlled House Financial Services Committee for attending a party at Jeff Bezos' house yesterday, and not paying enough attention to varigating rates for minorities and taking account of climate change, today's testimony before the Republican-controlled Senate Banking Committee, may be a little friendlier.

As Rabobank's Michael Every noted earlier, today we get to listen to a technocrat describe how well everything is going while trying to decipher the hidden and not so hidden hints in his speech to ensure that one correctly front-runs where the state is about to pour enormous buckets of liquidity.

My colleagues and I strongly support the goals of maximum employment and price stability that Congress has set for monetary policy. Congress has given us an important degree of independence to pursue these goals based solely on data and objective analysis. This independence brings with it an obligation to explain clearly how we pursue our goals. Today I will review the current economic situation before turning to monetary policy.