The priority for the bank is cost cutting and smartening up the services and products it offers to the countless millions of its customers.
In referring to the continued level of unemployment that dropped four tenths of a percentage point to 9.4% in December (see " U.S. Adds Jobs, Unemployment Falls to 9.4%"), Bernanke said a stable job market is the first priority for the central bank.
"The bank has given too much priority to grand schemes and acquisitions, rather than running a day-to-day bank, " said Alastair Winter, chief economist at Daniel Stewart Securities.
The government is now looking to capital bond markets and even the European Investment Bank to fund its priority school building programme.
Richard Repetto of Sandler O'Neill, an investment bank, says that the priority now should be getting back to core strengths of retail investing and asset accumulation.
"It is therefore a priority for the European Commission to prevent competition distortions in inter-bank arrangements on fees, " it said.
In an institution dominated by investment bankers, the need of brokers to earn commissions by selling the bank's own investment products may be given a higher priority than offering the customer good advice.
If reducing fees is your top priority, take note of all the different types that may be triggered by everyday bank transactions or services.
Nine areas of priority were highlighted, including reforming public administration, fiscal reform, financial liberalization to allow for more international bank participation in the Chinese economy, social welfare reform, urbanization, agriculture modernization, and technology and innovation.
FORBES: China Crossing The Rubicon As Reform Agenda Moves Forward
Since taking the German bank's helm last year, its co-chief executives have said increasing capital was a top priority.
More broadly, of all the developed countries, the U.S. puts the lowest priority on potential economic benefits when reviewing prospective immigrants, according to Pia Orrenius, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
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