More and better data about low-income communities are needed to advance development in those areas, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday. In prepared remarks to an economic development conference in Los Angeles, Bernanke said more effort should be put toward quantifying performance and risk of community development financial institutions. His speech made no mention of monetary policy or interest rates "The development of more and better data on economically distressed communities, together with sophisticated tools for analyzing those data, is essential for continued progress in community development," Bernanke said. Measurement should include financial and social indicators, Bernanke said. He added that community banks and other financial institutions can better position themselves to receive funding if they demonstrate their financial viability and social impact. "In the community development field," Bernanke said, "financial returns and social returns are not necessarily the same, which is why measurement should include both financial and social indicators."