samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Germany met its tolerance threshold after World War I. The Treaty of Versailles obliged Germany to pay war reparations to the allies after the war. The total sum of reparations was estimated at twice Germany’s national income at the time. The annual payments, which were linked to export revenues, came to 5–6 per cent of Germany’s national product. The economist John Maynard Keynes argued that it was impossible for the country to make these payments and that the reparations demanded would have fatal consequences, not only for Germany, but for all of Europe. “I believe that the campaign for securing out of Germany the general costs of the war was one of the most serious acts of political unwisdom for which our statesmen have ever been responsible.” 11 The countries that have defaulted on debt in the past two decades have systematically experienced problems when debt has reached around 50 per cent of GDP. Today, average sovereign debt for advanced economies is around 80 per cent of GDP. Japan’s gross public debt – one of the world’s wealthiest nations – is almost 220 per cent of GDP, but given its considerable assets net debt is about 110 per cent of GDP. 12 Sustainability of government debt is to a large extent determined by a country’s governance system, tax system and growth capacity. Developed democracies with sound public financial management and solid institutions have a considerable capacity to collect taxes to service debt.

I favor delaying liftoff until I am more certain that we have sufficient momentum in place toward our policy goals. And I think we should plan for our path of policy rate increases to be shallow in order to be sure that the economy’s momentum is sustainable in the presence of less accommodative financial conditions. I look forward to the day when we can return to business-as-usual monetary policy, but that time has not yet arrived. 3  6  Lockhart (2014). BIS central bankers’ speeches  References Federal Open Market Committee, 2014, Summary of Economic Projections(external-pdf), Washington, DC, September 17. Kocherlakota, Narayana, 2013, “A time of testing,” speech, St. Paul Chamber of Commerce, St. Paul, MN, November 12. Lockhart, Dennis, 2014, “Thoughts on liftoff,” speech, Global Interdependence Center, Sixth Annual Rocky Mountain Economic Summit, Jackson Hole, WY, July 11. BIS central bankers’ speeches  7
Caleb M Fundanga: Economic and environmental growth of Africa Speech by Dr Caleb M Fundanga, Governor of the Bank of Zambia, at the 2nd Green Accord Media Forum, Rapolano, Italy, 3 November 2004. The references for the speech can be found on the Bank of Zambia’s website. * 1. *  *  Introduction  The world community faces unprecedented ecological challenges in the twenty-first century. Many political and business leaders have embraced the idea of sustainable development, calling for economic growth without destroying the natural environment or depleting the natural resources on which future generations will depend. Yet the concept has remained controversial, and implementation has been difficult. The task for policy makers and corporate leaders will be to find ways to meet both economic and environmental goals in the coming decade, without sacrificing either (Post-LawrenceWeber, 1999). In Africa, environmental issues are also frequently sidelined on most policy makers’ agendas due to insurmountable economic and social problems that the continent continues to face. Notwithstanding the economic and social hardships, as Africa constantly strives towards attaining economic development, environmental sustainability remains a key area of concern (UNEP, 2003) although usually remote to most economic policy makers. In addition, environmental sustainability is hardly seen by many in Africa as an underlying factor in economic development yet it is so critical that, if adequately and promptly addressed, will have positive secondary effects on other crucial areas pertaining to economic development and people’s welfare.

In this regard, measures need to be developed to quickly put Africa’s high potential economic growth on a path that is environmentally sustainable. Deliberate actions need to be taken in successfully transferring environmentally friendly technologies to Africa. A case in point is the use of solar technology, for which achievements thus far are promising. Most of Africa is endowed with solar energy, and transforming it into usable energy would substitute the widespread use of wood fire energy by the majority of the continent’s population. In addition, because this is proven technology no more resources need to be devoted to Research and Development. Further, solar energy circumvents the costs related to the generation and distribution of yet another clean source of energy, hydroenergy. In addition to generation, distribution of hydroelectricity presents Africa with a unique challenge of supply network or grids due to the vast landscapes that constitute the rural setting where majority of the population resides. This is part of the wider infrastructural constraint that the continent is yet to overcome. 4. Africa and the world economy  In the real sector, a number of African exports experienced an overall increase in prices in 2003. International gold prices increased, much to the benefit of the continents top producers, South Africa and Ghana. Likewise, oil prices increased during the same period leading to higher revenues for countries such as Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, and Chad (ADB, 2003).
Paris Europlace International Financial Forum – Paris, 9 July 2019 New Frontiers in Finance  Speech by François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Banque de France  Press contact: Mark Deen (mark.deen@banque-france.fr; +33 6 88 56 54 03). Page 1 sur 5 Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a pleasure to be with you today: this Paris - Europlace International Financial Forum is more and more “the place to be”, as France and Paris are increasingly stimulating first-movers in Europe. The theme of this Forum – “New Frontiers in Finance” – prompts us to look towards new territories that we have to explore and conquer. Regarding finance, I will focus on two of them: digitalisation and green finance. But before looking at the future, let me stress two prerequisites for the present. ** I. Two prerequisites for the present My first message is to welcome the new European team, nominated in Brussels last week, starting with Christine Lagarde and Ursula von der Leyen. Once again, albeit at the last minute, albeit under the threat of a crisis, Europe has proved itself to be decisive and innovative. Now, it is time to begin the fundamental work on a true financial Eurosystem. Let us look beyond Brexit, and beyond the somewhat disappointing debates on the euro area budget. The top priority on the European agenda should be a Financing Union for Investment and Innovation, which will channel our abundant private savings through a combined Banking Union and Capital Markets Union.

In addition, the use of local currency in regional trade and investment has been promoted to lower business transaction costs and mitigate volatility of the major currencies. We hope that policy to strengthen financial connectivity with our neighbors will facilitate closer economic integration for the shared benefits of the region. The second plan is the Payment Systems Roadmap. The plan is aimed to promote safe and efficient electronic payment services with new technologies and innovation, with a view to reducing transaction costs, improving governance standards, and being supportive of expanding economic activities. In particular,  BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  integrated payment channels, such as mobile phones, internet, debit/ credit cards, and emoney along with a competitive fee structure, will support e-Commerce/ m-Commerce and benefit both businesses and consumers alike. The Bank of Thailand will also continue to work with regional regulators to advance payment systems connectivity to support international trades, labor movements, and tourisms. Under this roadmap, the Bank of Thailand has worked closely with the government to advocate the idea of digital economy by taking a lead in the National e-Payment Plan to promote Any ID infrastructure and debit card usage. Development of a new payment infrastructure as the “open architecture” to allow network interoperability among various types of players will lower payment fees and discourage the use of cash, thus resulting in much lower operating costs and higher efficiency for the corporate and banking sectors.
U.S. companies with near-term bond maturities spent more than $ trillion on capital expenditures last year, just over one-third of the total. This translates into spending that touches multitudes of other firms and their employees throughout the economy, including private and smaller firms. Third, the removal of tail outcomes in the credit markets matters for employment decisions. Researchers have documented this relationship through an association between credit market sentiment and employment forecasts.18 Holding all else equal, if excess credit risk premia remained at their March highs, the median payroll forecast as of the third quarter of 2020 would be lower by approximately 1.8 million jobs. Meanwhile, at the fifth percentile—a proxy for the adverse tail scenario—payrolls would be lower by seven million jobs.19 You might interpret these findings as a rough sketch of the counterfactual. Had we not provided a robust funding backstop, how many more companies would have shuttered operations and laid off workers, either out of necessity or out of caution? If companies had been unable to refinance maturing bonds, how would their defaults have cascaded through supply chains and employment outcomes? We’ll never know these counterfactual scenarios with precision. Suffice it to say, though, that considering the downside risks to the economy we faced in March, the CCF’s $ billion of purchases and committed backstops have provided enormous benefits to the country.

As revenues fell and without access to capital markets, companies initially relied on cash buffers and drew down relatively expensive bank-funded credit lines.4 Markets quickly priced in dire outcomes from the unfolding credit crunch. As one illustration, nearly $ billion of high-yield bonds—or about 40 percent of outstanding issues—were trading at distressed levels in mid-March.5 Considering that corporate bonds typically include cross-default provisions—where a default on one bond issue triggers defaults on all of a company’s outstanding debt—the total amount of public bond claims that could have entered bankruptcy was several multiples of this amount. With widespread financial disruptions threatening to spill over into the real economy and putting millions of jobs at risk, a bold and aggressive policy response was required.6 Enter the Corporate Credit Facilities On March 23, the Federal Reserve, with support from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, announced a broad set of emergency lending facilities, including the Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility (PMCCF) and the Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility (SMCCF)—together, the CCFs. The ultimate goal of these facilities was to provide a bridge for U.S. companies and their employees to the other side of the pandemic shock. To achieve this goal, it was critical to provide broad support for both the primary market—where companies https://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/speeches/2020/sin201020  1/5  20/10/2020  The Federal Reserve’s Corporate Credit Facilities: Why, How, and For Whom - FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of NEW YORK  access credit—and the secondary market—where the debt of large U.S. companies trades.
Following the default on its debt by the Russian government, the imposition of capital controls by Malaysia, and the near collapse of the hedge fund Long Term Capital Management, financial markets world-wide have exhibited extraordinary volatility, driven by a fear of risk, a flight to quality and liquidity, and the beginning of a significant reduction in leverage by financial institutions. What does this turbulence mean for the British economy? Before answering that question, I want to say a few words about the Monetary Policy Committee. Just under two weeks ago, the Monetary Policy Committee, for the first time in its short history, cut interest rates. When I accepted your invitation to speak today, I did not know that I would be able to explain to you the reasons behind our latest decision. For, until today, the minutes of our meetings were published with a lag of some five to six weeks. But, as the Bank announced earlier this month, the minutes will now be published only two weeks after the monthly meetings. And the minutes from our meeting on 7-8 October were published at 9.30 a.m. this morning. This increase in transparency should help commentators and financial markets alike to assess the actions of the MPC and to predict its future decisions. As I have said on other occasions, the aim of the MPC is to pursue economic stability, not to spring surprises on an unsuspecting world. Surprises may be good for newspapers, but not for most other businesses.

Moreover, the Law incorporates a number of incentives for foundations to relinquish control of the banks in which they participate, something that will normally happen in most cases in less than four years. We believe that this approach will certainly promote better business management and facilitate access to capital markets. In doing so it will contribute to a smoother adjustment by saving banks to the new and very demanding environment, thereby contributing to the strength of the institutions themselves and to financial stability. But more importantly, the highly relevant social objectives of the cajas are fully preserved through the operation of the foundations. These foundations continue to contribute very 4/5  significantly to social welfare. It is just that the foundations´ wealth will now be more diversified and, therefore, they are likely to obtain a more robust stream of income with which to finance their activities. Of course, I would not dare claim that this formula be pursued everywhere. Other reform strategies may also work in other jurisdictions. Yet, I strongly believe that some form of restructuring is required in the European banking market and that the strategy followed in Spain is a reasonable response to the new challenges all credit institutions have to face while preserving the essence of the social value that saving banks have historically provided. Thank you for your attention. 5/5
Inflation Indications and Implications I'll start by saying that although we are seeing some signs that inflation is moderating, it remains far too high, and it is my No. 1 concern going into 2023. Rapidly rising prices continue to have an immense impact on families and businesses, especially when it comes to essentials like food, utilities, and housing. High inflation is a new reality for many people. For the three decades preceding the pandemic, the inflation rate averaged almost exactly 2 percent, as measured by the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index. But that changed dramatically in the spring of 2021, when inflation suddenly soared, ultimately reaching a 40-year high of 7 percent last June. While the inflation rate has since come down to 5-1/2 percent, it's still higher than any pre-pandemic reading since 1982 and far above the FOMC's 2 percent longer-run goal. Persistently high inflation undermines the ability of our economy to perform at its full potential, so it is critical for the Federal Reserve to bring inflation back down to our goal . We are firmly committed to doing so. 1/4  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  Shifts and Realignment Those who have been following my speeches lately will know that I've been quite devoted to a recurring theme: using the layers of an onion to describe inflation.1 But with the new year, I thought I would switch gears. I didn't have to look too far, because the mechanism of shifting gears is exactly what's going on in the economy.

But with growth slowing, I anticipate the unemployment rate to increase from its current level of 3-1/2 percent to around 4-1/2 percent over the next year. Turning to inflation, I expect cooling global demand and supply improvements to result in declining inflation for goods. These factors should contribute to inflation slowing further from its current rate to around 3 percent this year. While services inflation is still a sticking point, I expect overall inflation to come back down to 2 percent in the next few years as further tightening of monetary policy realigns the balance between demand and supply. Conclusion I'll close by saying that the monetary policy gear is turning. But it will take time for supply and demand to come back into proper alignment and balance, so we must keep moving. While the route ahead is still uncertain, I am fully confident we will return to a sustained period of price stability. 1 John C. Williams, Peeling the Inflation Onion , remarks at the Economic Club of New  York, delivered via videoconference (November 28, 2022); John C. Williams, A Bedrock Commitment to Price Stability , remarks at the 2022 U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce National Conference, Phoenix, Arizona (October 3, 2022). 2 John C. Williams, A Steady Anchor in a Stormy Sea , remarks at SNB-FRB-BIS High-  Level Conference on Global Risk, Uncertainty, and Volatility, Zurich, Switzerland (November 9, 2022).
The existence of alternate routes that can be used if the main systems malfunction enhances the security of retail payment intermediation. Physical cash in the form of banknotes and coin plays the same role. But it is consistent with the requirements of our time that there must also be electronic payment routes that are independent of foreign card systems’ core infrastructure. Elsewhere in the Nordic countries, such independent electronic solutions have been in place for some time. A comparable technological solution is now ready in Iceland — a payment solution based on domestic financial institutions’ core infrastructure — but it has not yet been put into general use. This is not acceptable, given the possibility that this solution will improve security and enhance efficacy and efficiency for the benefit of Icelandic society. Bills of legislation providing for the merger of the Central Bank and the Financial Supervisory Authority have been introduced before Parliament. This is a large and complex project that I do not have time to discuss at length here. In important ways, the changes provided for in the bills are major improvements. Chief among them is the fact that they make monitoring financial stability more effective and efficient, and they allow for better harmonised formulation of monetary, financial stability, and financial supervision policies. In addition, it is ensured that the Central Bank, as lender of last resort, will have a good enough overview to take the best decisions possible when the need is greatest.

Additionally, blockchain, robotics and augmented reality are also being explored by banks to improve their services or streamline their operations. 17. To further support the development of Fintech in the banking sector, I am pleased to announce today the launch of HKMA’s second initiative, which is the “Fintech Supervisory Sandbox”. This Sandbox allows banks to conduct testing and trial of newly developed technologies and applications on a pilot basis. Within the Sandbox, banks can try out their new Fintech products without the need to achieve full compliance with the HKMA’s usual supervisory requirements. This will enable banks to gather real-life data and user feedback on their Fintech products or services more easily and in a controlled environment, so that they can make suitable refinements to their products before the full launch. The HKMA does not intend to stipulate an exhaustive list of the supervisory requirements that may potentially be relaxed within the Sandbox. Examples of these requirements include security-related requirements for electronic banking services and the timing of independent assessment prior to launching of new technology services. Banks intending to access the Sandbox are advised to get in touch with the HKMA early. My HKMA colleagues stand ready to discuss with the banks individually on the appropriate supervisory flexibility that can be made available to them within the Fintech Supervisory Sandbox. 18. Further details of the Fintech Innovation Hub and the Fintech Supervisory Sandbox will be announced by the HKMA later today. Competition from neighbouring centres 19.
The key policy has been the implementation of financial sector reform which has resulted in a much improved financial system, especially the banking sector. Policies have also been directed at developing the region’s capital markets, especially the bond market. And as I noted, policy cooperation has also been strengthened to support regional financial integration. But while policies have been important, financial integration in East Asia has essentially been left to the market, in the sense that the process is basically a market-driven one. My view is that, going forward, the process of integration should continue to be market-driven and not policy-driven. But policy can do more by focusing on developing robust, efficient, and resilient local markets. This is because well-developed local markets will make the process of regional financial integration much easier. As for policy cooperation, there are definitely areas that government policies can do more collectively, especially on issues that involve efforts on a region-wide basis. In this context, future efforts at policy cooperation should focus on few but concrete and specific issues to be addressed or projects to be executed. A case in point is the development of a shared regional financial infrastructure such as linking the clearing and settlement systems, harmonizing regulations on cross-border investment flows, and developing a shared facility to promote greater flows of investment information. This type of specific efforts and projects would be easier to win region-wide commitment and support.

The slow pace of financial integration relative to trade, in my view, is a reflection of three specific factors. BIS Review 95/2006  1  First, trade integration has a much longer history in East Asia, of which the key turning point was the introduction of the ASEAN Free Trade Area in 1992. Therefore, trade integration benefits from an established policy structure and a more simplified policy framework of tariff reductions, compared to that of financial integration. Second, financial integration has essentially been a market-driven process, with the policy supports focusing on removing market impediments and developing financial infrastructure. Therefore, there has been less of a deliberate policy push while the different levels of financial market developments in the region also act as a constraint to rapid integration. And the third factor is that, compared to trade integration, financial integration is complicated by a wider set of rules and regulatory framework, especially on cross-border capital flows, that tends to be more difficult to dismantle quickly. At the same time, the policy approach on capital flows liberalization in East Asia has been more cautious following the Asian financial crisis because of the risk of capital outflows and the weakened external financial positions. This, in my view, is one reason that led to a more cautious approach in liberalizing cross-border capital outflows. Let me now come to the second part of my talk, that is, the prospect for financial integration in the region going forward, and what should be the role of policy.