Nonetheless, it would be a false step to dispense with that expertise. No one seriously questions the need for heart surgeons or car mechanics, the need for specialist knowledge and experienced decision-making when repairing hearts or car parts. Human bodies and car engines are complex environments. But so too is the economic and financial system. It too needs specialist knowledge and experienced decision-makers. It does not follow from this, however, that expertise cannot be augmented or improved on by drawing on as wide a set of opinions as possible, expert and non-expert. Non-experts can provide a different lens on problems and solutions. This diversity of thought has been found to be especially useful in complex decision environments. Colloquially, that is why we call it “folk wisdom”. Back in 2004, James Surowiecki gave it another name – the “wisdom of crowds”. 27  There are now many examples of collective wisdom at work. th  The most celebrated is 19 century English statistician Francis Galton’s amazement at the accuracy of the average guesses about the weight of an ox among visitors to a county fair. Less celebrated (though, as it turns out, more accurate) was English magician Derren Brown’s attempt to predict the UK National Lottery results in 2009 using the wisdom of crowds. The wisdom of crowds is not magic. Subsequent research has found that it relies instead on two factors: diversity and deliberation. To take these in turn, the value of diversity in complex decision-making is fairly well-understood.

Regulation 07–01 of February 3, 2007 on rules applicable to current transactions with the rest of the world has clearly confirmed this convertibility through its Article 3, which stipulates that: “... payments and transfers related to international current transactions are free. They take place through licensed intermediaries”. Regarding foreign direct investments, transfers of revenues, profits, and dividends are included in the scope of current convertibility. In case of asset sale or liquidation, transfer of the proceeds takes place through licensed intermediaries without delay, commensurate with Regulation 05–03 of June 6, 2005 on foreign investments, promulgated in implementation of Article 31 of the Ordinance on investment development. It should be noted that the measures introduced in the Supplementary Budget Law of July 2009 do not affect the current convertibility regime nor do they affect capital transfers related to foreign direct investments (FDIs). The measures do not give rise to any exchange restriction. The objective of the measures is to ensure the traceability of payments related to good faith transactions, hence contributing to combating the parallel sector and ensuring that banks operating in Algeria effectively fulfil their responsibility in terms of first-level control of the transactions with the rest of the world, in line with the terms of their license. Algeria remains committed to the stability of its exchange rate regime, commensurate with its commitments in the context of Article VIII of the IMF’s Articles and the Association agreement with the European Union (EU), notably regarding current payments and capital movements.