samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
These are complex projects, but we believe that they are essential to technology development, and among other things, to raising financial inclusion, so that we could bridge that gap between advanced cities and regions and ones where services are unavailable. To conclude, I would like to say that we are continuing consistent efforts in all areas of the Central Bank’s responsibility – monetary policy, financial market resolution and strengthening, encouraging competition, the development of the national financial infrastructure, and raising quality and reducing costs of financial services for households and businesses. I would like to repeatedly thank the State Duma for its cooperation with the Bank of Russia and massive efforts to improve financial market-related laws. This is a tangible contribution to strengthening our financial system, and its capability to foster economic growth and raise public well-being. Thank you for your time. 7/7  BIS central bankers' speeches

By contrast, ethnic minorities born in the UK boosts earnings by around 7% relative to non-UK born ethnic minorities. UK-born ethnic minorities tend to be more educated and earn more across all the types of qualifications, compared with non-UK born ethnic minorities. (g)  London. Compared to the benchmark (the North), the region in which people live and work plays a  relatively very small role in determining their pay, with one exception – London and the South East. A job there boosts earnings, relative to the North, by 21% and 12% respectively. This effect is present across all four sub-groups. The ‘London effect’ is if anything more pronounced among white women, who earn 26% more. Section 5: Conclusion Let us conclude by summarising some of our main findings and then setting out some of the potential next steps, policy-wise, that flow from this analysis. 32  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  32  First, the good news is that, once we control for various job and individual-specific factors, there is clear evidence of progress having been made in shrinking gender and ethnicity pay gaps in the UK over the past quarter-century or so. Based on the results from the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, these gaps have shrunk by around half for females, and by a little less than that for ethnic minorities. Second, the less good news is that these gender and ethnicity pay gaps remain large even once various compositional effects are taken into account, at around 10 percentage points.
In contrast, there are signs that the depreciation in sterling is having the expected effect on the market share of goods exporters. That is also reflected in the robust growth in manufacturing output and in business surveys which report buoyant export orders. So far, there is less sign that the lower level of sterling is leading to the substitution of imports by domestically produced goods and services. But it is likely that the producers of internationally tradable goods and services take time to respond to the improved opportunities associated with a lower real exchange rate, especially if investment in foreign distribution networks or the repatriation of off-shored activities is required. So, other things equal, it seems reasonable to expect the impact of the lower level of sterling on net exports to continue to build through next year. The prospects for net exports obviously depend not only on the response to the past depreciation of sterling, but also on demand in the UK’s main export markets. While global growth has been strong over the past year, much of that has been in emerging economies that presently account for a relatively small proportion of UK exports. Growth has been patchier in the developed economies. In the United States, following a series of soft indicators through the late summer and early autumn, the US Federal Reserve announced additional purchases of US treasuries.

Germany is growing rapidly, led in part by an expansion in exports to the booming Asian economies. The countries of the periphery are, however, struggling in the face of significant fiscal and structural challenges. While the countries of the euro-area periphery are each confronted by specific challenges, they all need to restore their competitiveness without the option of devaluation. Instead, in the absence of effective structural reform, they face the prospect of sustained low growth in order to drive down wages and prices. That itself makes the task of stabilising public debt harder. Support to Greece and Ireland from the IMF and rest of the European Union has given those countries a breathing space in which to undertake the necessary adjustments. Financial support for other countries may or may not prove necessary – only time will tell. But the important thing for us is whether an intensification of the difficulties in the euro-area periphery could also derail the recovery here. 2  Analysis of the earlier phases of quantitative easing both here and in the United States suggest that purchases of the order of 12–14% of GDP have lowered longer-term government and corporate bond yields by around 70–100 basis points relative to where they would otherwise have been.
In the now-standard Fed practice of communicate, communicate, and communicate, we published detailed plans well in advance on how we would gradually and predictably reduce the balance sheet.5 As with lift-off, this process has proceeded smoothly without market disruption or volatility—and that’s the way we like it.6 Stage 3: “Normal” This brings me to the third stage, that of “normal” monetary policy. As interest rates have moved well away from zero and the balance sheet has started shrinking, a natural question arises: What does normal monetary policy look like? As before, I’ll start with interest rate policy and finish with the balance sheet. For those who follow the Fed closely, you’ve noticed that the FOMC has been slimming down its statements of late and using less forward guidance about the future path of policy. In this vein, the FOMC this week removed language from its statement indicating that monetary policy remains accommodative.7 Let me make clear, these more concise statements do not signify a shift in our monetary policy approach. Instead, they represent the natural evolution of the language describing the factors influencing our policy decisions in the context of the strength of the economic outlook and inflation being near our 2 percent longer-run goal. These changes in how we communicate our policy views are a sign that we are nearing the end of the second stage of the normalization process, and are inching closer to conducting normal monetary policy.

A natural question in this context is why these driving forces and regulations are of interest to the Riksbank. The Riksbank has two statutory tasks, to maintain price stability and to promote a stable and efficient payment system. Both of these tasks give us reason to take an interest in the securities markets. To begin with, it is evident that the Riksbank’s monetary policy requires an efficient fixed income market so that inflation will be affected by interest rate decisions. With regard to the payment system, the securities markets are becoming increasingly important to the banks, which in turn are central to the functioning of the payment system. In addition, large parts of the securities market infrastructure are directly linked to the payment system in different ways. The Riksbank therefore has every reason to monitor developments in the securities markets and to actively promote the development of regulations that contribute to stability as well as efficiency. Demographic changes One of the fundamental economic driving forces behind developments in the securities markets is demographic changes. The age distribution of the population sets the framework for savings. It is not too far-fetched to assume that people mostly borrow while they are young, save while middle-aged and then live off their savings when they are older. Savings vary over a life cycle. Studies show that household debt is mainly built up during the ages 20 to 40; while people aged 40 to 65 have positive  BIS Review 66/2004  1  net savings.
It is precisely to assess these risks that the NGFS launched a dedicated task forcexxii earlier this year. I have the great honor to co-lead this task force with Saskia de Vries from the DNB. It includes many members from all over the world. 5  Page 6 sur 12 Luckily, we do not start from scratch. For instance, economists recognize that biodiversity enables ecosystems to provide essential services that sustain life on our planet (called “ecosystem services”). As they regenerate themselves, they are able to provide basic but essential goods (such as food, wood, water, etc.) but also regulation services (such as climate regulation, water purification or pollination) and cultural services such as touristic activities. Our economies are deeply dependent on these ecosystem services. A study indicates than half of global GDP is moderately or highly dependent on ecosystem servicesxxiii and another study finds that that the total economic value of ecosystem services at the global level amounts to more than annual global GDP.xxiv But let’s be careful: we also know that such monetary assessments of ecosystem services have many limitations. For instance, Robert Costanza and co-authors (in the study I just referred to) acknowledge that such assessments of ecosystem services help to increase the awareness of policy makers and economists about the importance of biodiversity, but have limited value in terms of decision-making. There are at least three reasons to proceed carefully here.

8  BIS Review 64/2006  countries transferring their jobs, following a few years of domination of the UK in Europe, was Germany, whereas India continued to be the leader among the countries which provided destination for the off-shoring process. Following India was the Czech Republic (before China and other Asian countries), where quite a number of jobs were shifted from Germany and Portugal. In light of the data, Poland’s attractiveness as a destination of the off-shoring process is growing gradually, whereas that of Hungary is going down. Table 3. Off-shoring in the EU The country to which jobs wereJob destruction (in number ofJob destruction in the EU workplaces) in the EU in theJanuary – November 2005, due shifted period 2002 - 2003 through off-to off-shoring shoring China  3361  3077  India  9458  5470  Asian countries  3786  3271  Czech Republic  780  3890  Hungary  1110  772  Poland  120  2676  Total  33151  31942  Source: European Restructuring Monitor, own calculations  Numerous available analyses have revealed that off-shoring is bound to grow and increasingly concern the services sector 16 . For instance, in the years 1980 – 2002 trade in goods and services grew annually by 6.9%. According to the forecasts by McKinsey Global Institute, in the years 2003 2008 off-shoring of services to countries with low manufacturing costs will grow at a rate of 30% per annum. In 2003 the global trade in services stood at ca.
TALF loans are leveraged – haircuts against the AAA-rated collateral average about 10%; the loan terms are three or five years; and the loans are non-recourse, which means that if the economy performs very badly and the securities fall sharply in value, an investor can put the collateral that secures its TALF loan back to the Fed, only losing the collateral haircut. The loan is then extinguished. Because term, non-recourse financing is not readily available from the private sector currently and the spreads on asset-backed securities remain elevated, TALF provides an opportunity for investors to purchase AAA-rated consumer asset-backed securities and earn relatively high returns. Although some observers are concerned by the prospect of TALF investors achieving relatively high returns, I think that concern is misplaced. Investor participation is absolutely essential in order for the TALF to improve the availability of credit and to bring down the cost of credit for households and business. The prospect of relatively high expected risk-adjusted returns is precisely what gives investors an incentive to participate in the program. As investors begin to take advantage of the attractive TALF terms, spreads on ABS securities contracts, and rates of return go down, and most importantly, the costs of funds for the issuers of the underlying securities falls. Investors’ actions to seek attractive returns lead to lower borrowing costs for households and businesses. Does the possibility of attractive returns for TALF investors mean that the Federal Reserve is taking on large credit risks?

To the extent that issuers and investors are unwilling to participate in TALF because of fears that their involvement might lead to unforeseen complications at a later date, this would lead to the unattractive outcome of underutilization and the achievement of only a portion of the potential benefits. Of course it is of critical importance in this facility and in all the programs instituted in response to this crisis that the interests of the taxpayer be protected, and the safeguards and restrictions on the use of TARP funds are designed to achieve this. However, I think it is fair to say that TALF got off to a relatively slow start because investors were worried that the use of TARP funds in TALF could restrict their ability to conduct their business activities more broadly, perhaps in unanticipated ways and potentially retroactively. Put simply, to the extent that the use of TARP monies creates stigma, this may limit the effectiveness of TALF and other programs that use TARP funds. Although we think these fears among market  4  BIS Review 69/2009  participants that use TALF are misplaced, such anxieties have had an impact on the program. Another challenge faced by the TALF is to increase the participation of real money investors (such as mutual funds, pension funds and insurance companies), many of whom are not permitted to use leverage.
Tharman Shanmugaratnam: The Gallery – promoting Singapore’s central bank role and mission Remarks by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, at the Opening of the MAS Gallery, Singapore, 16 February 2016. *  *  *  ESM Goh Chok Tong Family members of Former Chairmen, Mr Hon Sui Sen and Dr Goh Keng Swee, and of former Managing Director Mr Lim Kim San Former Managing Directors, Mr Michael Wong Pak-Shong, Mr JY Pillay and Mr Lee Ek Tieng Current Board members Members of the MAS management and staff, and especially, MAS Pioneers Thank you to everyone for coming to the opening of our MAS Gallery. The Gallery is aimed at helping the public understand the mission of the MAS, and its role in promoting both growth and stability of the Singapore economy and financial system. The Gallery aims to help the public understand •  how we keep inflation low over the long term through MAS’ policies in managing the exchange rate of the Singapore dollar,  •  how we supervise the financial sector – the banking, insurance and securities industries - to ensure confidence in our financial system,  •  how we promote the development of a vibrant financial centre that serves a good part of Asia and in some respects the rest of the world,  •  how we also seek to ensure that the financial system serves the interests of consumers, and how we try to help Singaporeans manage their finances well.

This observation, which came to be known as Moore’s law, still holds. In other words, microchip capacity is being doubled every 18 months. What is perhaps even more relevant is that there does not seem to be any reason why Moore’s law should not continue to be valid a good way into the future. Computer manufacturers are accordingly achieving a rapid improvement in productivity that will last for a good time to come. Provided demand for computers is sufficiently strong, it looks as though the computer-producing sector will become successively larger and make a growing contribution to GDP, the indicator we use for a country’s total income. In simple terms one can say that if an economic sector expands rapidly and also achieves high productivity growth, it will generate an acceleration of the total economy’s average productivity growth. Put differently, the expanding sector weighs increasingly heavily in the measurement of total productivity, defined as GDP per hour worked, and all else equal, this raises average productivity. This is probably one explanation for the acceleration of productivity growth in the United States in the 1990s, which gave rise to the concept of a “new economy”. In time, moreover, as computers and the new technology are introduced in various ways in other parts of the economy, productivity growth will also pick up there. So it is not just the production of computers that becomes more efficient; computer applications in other fields heighten the efficiency of processes there as well. The effects spread through the economy.
This should probably be considered an upper bound. 16  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  16  These sorts of evaluation also have greatest value when conducted at times of significant change in the monetary policy stance or when this change is not expected. That is to say, they are probably best undertaken periodically rather than regularly. One important point is that the interpretation of these evaluations depends greatly on the reasons monetary policy is changing in the first place. For example, the loosening of monetary policy in the case study was positive for most households. But that does not imply a tightening of monetary policy would thus be negative for household finances and welfare. For example, if this tightening came in response to a stronger economy, and helped avoid inflation overshooting its target requiring higher-still interest rates, its effects are likely to be positive too. This suggests these scorecard exercises are likely to be context-specific and hence are best done periodically at times of significant change to the monetary stance. Reporting its effects in a disaggregated way should not call into question the purpose of monetary policy which, as set in statute, is to stabilise aggregate economic activity and prices. Nor does it imply monetary tools should be used to meet distributional ends. Rather, its purpose would be to improve public understanding of the effects of monetary policy. This would hopefully help close the public perception gap 46  about the effects of monetary policy and the trust deficit facing monetary policymakers.

Also as with income, the net effect of monetary policy on measures of wealth inequality is negligible. The unequal prior distribution means, however, that monetary gains are heavily skewed, with the top two deciles accounting for 60% of total net wealth gains. Charts 14-17 look at the effect of monetary policy on income and wealth looking across the age distribution. They show some notable generational differences. In percentage terms, the income gains from looser monetary policy have been largest among the young, largely due to improved employment prospects. 28  Recessions typically generate sharper rises in unemployment among those who are less educated or less skilled, so it is also worth noting that the loosening in monetary policy during the crisis played an important role in limiting that effect. Older cohorts, by contrast, lost out in income terms due to lower interest receipts on their savings. By contrast, wealth gains have been evenly spread across the age distribution in percentage terms, with every cohort gaining. In money terms, the largest beneficiaries have been older age groups, the value of whose pensions and houses have been boosted by the policy-induced rise in asset prices. Looking at the oldest age group, this boost to wealth has exceeded their income losses by a factor of around 10. Looking at the effects of monetary policy by region, the benefits of monetary policy on incomes have been evenly spread in percentage terms (Charts 18 and 19). Monetary policy has not caused any significant widening in regional inequality.
Moreover in the European Union, where the ECB lacks a formal bank regulatory role, Caruana said he sees no need for changes in the system. “We are talking about national supervision with very good contact with national central banks, which are part of the euro system. This is a structure that is working now, and I don't think the Basel II will affect this structure. Certainly it makes it extremely necessary that supervisors and banks have a good relationship and risk-focused supervision, but this is already there.” *  *  *  New Basel Committee head opens door to rules delay A top global regulator thrashing out new banking rules left the door open on Monday to delay the “Basel II” accord, which will force sweeping changes in how banks set aside capital for unforeseen hazards. In an interview with Reuters, Jaime Caruana, the new chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, defended the controversial accord, saying he was more concerned with getting it right than with meeting the committee's self-imposed deadline of end-2003 for a final draft. The committee would decide at its next meeting in mid-October whether it would be possible to meet the original timetable, he said. “There are some concerns that the tight timing that we have may jeopardise the quality we have in the accord,” he said in his first major interview since taking over the committee in May. “The first consideration is going to be the quality of the accord.

Jaime Caruana: Chairman of the Basel Committee discusses Basel II Reuters interview with Mr Jaime Caruana, Governor of the Bank of Spain and Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Basel, 8 September 2003. Interviewed by Stella Dawson and Thomas Atkins. *  *  *  New bank rules to smooth economic swings - Caruana New capital rules for banks worldwide should smooth economic swings and strengthen the financial system, making it easier for central bankers to set interest rates, the new head of the Basel Committee said on Monday. In his first major interview since taking over the mammoth job of pushing through the “Basel II” bank capital accord, Jaime Caruana told Reuters that he doubts the complex risk-based capital requirements will worsen business cycles. Instead, he said inserting more regulatory oversight into assessing how much capital a bank sets aside against possible loan losses, and increasing the amount of information banks must make public, should make banks much safer and better prepared for economic downturns. “It is a completely new approach. In that sense it is a kind of revolution,” said Caruana, who is also governor of the Bank of Spain. Some bankers and politicians have criticised the reforms, which aim to lessen the risk of banking crises and are scheduled to take effect at the end of 2006.