Based on remarks delivered before the Annual Financial Services of the New York Bankers Association on March 21, 1996, and the Economic Club of New York on October 2, 1996.

The Federal Reserve tightened monetary policy six times in 1994. The purpose of these policy moves was to encourage sustainable, noninflationary economic growth. Early actions were taken to move monetary policy toward a less accommodative stance than was followed in 1993. Later actions were...