samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
On the other hand, I strongly suspect that it would be difficult to gain understanding for a policy that involves private individuals also encountering negative rates on their deposit accounts; in other words having to “pay to save”. This is perhaps a limitation that simply has to be accepted. Ultimately, the legitimacy of, and confidence in, an independent institution like the Riksbank is based on the general public understanding the policy conducted, or at least not considering it to be illogical and unjust. But it is exactly this that I think constitutes the limitation. That zero per cent should be some magical limit for the repo rate is for me more difficult to understand, however. 7  6  Jansson (2018). 7 It is worth noting that the real yield on bank accounts is often negative, even if the nominal rate is positive. That  a negative nominal interest rate is special is, in this sense, an example of so-called “money illusion”. That said, I realise of course that the figure zero is of particularly psychological significance in many contexts. When the zero as such (and negative figures) was introduced in mathematics, it was, for example, met for a long time with confusion and even loathing, see, for instance, Weiss (2017). 5 [17]  During the almost three years that the repo rate was –0.5 per cent, normal banksaver deposit rates never became negative, so there seems nevertheless to be some scope for negative interest rates.

2  But weak UK investment also reflected a necessary adjustment in the capital stock. That overhang – which peaked at close to 10% in the UK – is being gradually worked off through a combination of a recovery in output and a prolonged period of subdued net investment (Chart 5). And in part weak investment could reflect a misallocation of capital in the run-up to the crisis. In this regard, the situation in the UK was a bit different to that in countries such as Spain and the US where significant residential and commercial property construction booms subsequently turned to busts. Without a housing glut to work off, the weakness of UK investment is all the more striking. Another form of misallocation could be the ability of so-called zombie firms to live on in the very low interest rate environment. The BIS’s proxy for this has seen the share of the “living dead” more than double since 3  the crisis. In contrast, the Bank of England estimates that the proportion of zombie firms in the UK has fallen by a quarter since 2008 (Chart 6). 1  See, for example, Reinhart, C. and K. Rogoff. 2009. This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly. Princeton: Princeton University Press, and Jorda, O., Schularick, M. and Taylor, A. (2013), ‘When Credit Bites Back’, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Vol. 45, Issue s2.
In general terms, the CCyB would be activated and increased by authorities whenever aggregate credit growth was judged to be excessive and associated with a build-up of system-wide risk. The buffer can be reduced during a downturn to help ensure that banks maintain the flow of credit in the economy. Considering that this is a new macroprudential tool, the evidence of implementations is still limited. Notwithstanding that, the number of countries that have developed a policy framework is increasing and the number of jurisdictions that have set a positive buffer level increased significantly over recent years. Until now, around forty countries have been using the CCyB, with heterogeneous effects depending on their local conditions and vulnerabilities. Furthermore, during the Covid-19 crisis, many countries released their countercyclical capital buffers, marking the first time that the CCyB was used widely in a downturn. Among them we can mention France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom (BIS, October 2022). These countries lowered the CCyB either completely or partially. Recent reports from the Basel Committee are also focused on providing empirical evidence regarding buffer usability and cyclicality of the framework. So far, the evidence gathered suggests that although the countercyclical capital buffer may be less effective to contain the build- up phase of the credit cycle. However, it may help to strengthen  1/3  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  banks' solvency and mitigate the risk that banks' lending standards amplify an economic downturn as well as all the spillovers implied.

When a home falls greatly in price, the household becomes unable to move without realising major losses. Individual households can then find themselves in particularly dire straits. A couple of days ago, Finansinspektionen presented a report on housing loans in Sweden.2 Encouragingly, this report showed that the mortgage ceiling introduced in 2010 may have dampened indebtedness and risk. At the same time, it can be noted, for example, that over half of new loans approved have no amortisation requirements whatsoever. Of the remaining loans, almost half must be amortised over a period of 50 years or longer. A large percentage of the loans being issued at present will remain for a long time. To a certain extent, these entail risks that the banks will also have to manage in several decades’ time. The higher capital adequacy demanded by the Ministry of Finance, Finansinspektionen and the Riksbank for the major Swedish banks should be seen in light of this. The banks need to lend a little more of their own money and slightly less of other people’s. This would mean that they would be able to bear losses more easily and would reduce the risk of future costs for all of us, as citizens. The European Commission is concerned about developments in Sweden The European Commission is also concerned about the high debts accumulating among Swedish households.
Lorenzo Bini Smaghi: Legal system and financial markets Opening remarks by Mr Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, at the conference “Legal issues related to the financial markets”, Frankfurt am Main, 26 October 2007. *  *  *  Ladies and Gentlemen 1 : It is with great pleasure that I open this conference on a topic which is of fundamental importance and also of some additional interest in the most recent times in the light of the market turmoil, as I will explain in a moment. 1. Legal systems and economic growth  The economics literature has emphasised that institutions in general, and the legal system in particular, represent a fundamental determinant of economic growth, especially in connection to financial development. 2 By the “legal system” I mean not only legislation and rule books, but also the infrastructure of the civil courts and the market regulators. In cross country analyses, the quality of institutions and the efficiency of the legal system often overshadow other classical determinants of growth such as the availability of national resources (which in itself tends to be more a curse than a blessing 3 ), country size, physical capital, and so on. This is a consideration that we, as economists, perhaps need to take more seriously into account than we currently do. The link between law and finance is inextricable.

BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  7. Here, it is worth noting that the three prerequisites for sustainable and equitable growth should be properly addressed. They are (1) social inclusion, (2) ecology and, (3) the stability of financial system. Any kind of disruption in any of these fundamentals can jeopardize sustainable and equitable growth. Thus, today, lessons that will be drawn from the development experiences of Thailand shall be focused on these three fundamentals. 8. Firstly, with regard to social inclusion, one obvious consideration is how to create opportunities for everyone to contribute to and benefit from economic growth. Therefore, we need to take into account the principle of equality of opportunity when planning and implementing the process of economic development. 9. To follow the principle of equality of opportunity, we need to ensure unbiased governance and regulatory environment for businesses and people. This is to remove or reduce arbitrary restrictions and to create “competitive neutrality”. A level playing field is the first and foremost step for the prevention of income inequality. 10. Although a fair playing field is important, it is, in itself, not enough to uphold the principle of equality of opportunity. By realizing that everyone is endowed with different capacity as well as is in different social and economic contexts, supportive policy adapted for each social group is needed. For instance, as in the case of Thailand, researches indicate that broadening financial access and promoting financial literacy has significantly raised the country’s growth rate.
B.2  Challenges facing Estonian economy on its way to the European Union - internal policy - joining the EMU  Estonia’s entry into the euro zone is contingent on the fulfilment of economic criteria applicable to the single currency countries - on the other hand, one can say that only these economies that meet the requirements can benefit from the transition to the single currency. And Estonia’s monetary and exchange rate policy during the pre-accession period and immediately after the EU accession should be considered against this background. First, the fixed exchange rate of the Estonian kroon against the euro and the currency board system will remain unchanged before and after the accession to the European Union. The adoption of the euro will take place in three stages in accordance with the acquis - joining the European Union, joining the ERM2 exchange rate mechanism and, once the Maastricht criteria are met, joining the euro area. The condition of the Estonian economy and financial system as well as integration with the EU markets that I commented upon earlier in our view fully support this principle. Also the European Commission and the European Central Bank have affirmed us that the euro-based fixed exchange rate and currency board regime, in principle, are in harmony with the acquis and conform to the requirements set for the monetary policy of the non-euro zone economies.

At the risk of oversimplifying these challenges, let me group them into three categories: (i) challenges to macroeconomic management, (ii) structural challenges, and (iii) cyclical challenges. The first two depend essentially on us, while the third refers to the short-term trajectory of the Chinese economy and its possible impact on developing countries. Macroeconomic challenges A first issue worth noting is that commodity prices have experienced successive cycles throughout history, and there is a permanent risk of mistaking a temporary phenomenon for a permanent one. This time is no different. There is a valid argument that the Chinese economy can sustain its recent dynamism for many years to come. While there are reasons to believe that the Chinese economy should converge to growth rates around 7% within the next few years, and that 9% growth rates are very difficult to sustain, this does not imply a substantial deterioration in Chinese demand for commodities. 3 In the case of Chile, the experts surveyed by the Ministry of Finance have raised their estimates for the long-term copper price on repeated occasions on the grounds of both supply- and demand-side considerations. 4 However, economic cycles do exist and the response of supply – which has not been fully perceived so far – will tend to drive prices to their trend values, which are below current levels. Clarity on this point is not only fundamental to determine a fiscal policy consistent with medium-term income, but also to guide private spending and investment decisions on the basis of sustainable future earnings.
Timely collaboration between Malaysia and Bahrain to strengthen interlinkages The collaborative effort we are witnessing today is expected to strengthen the liquidity management framework between Malaysia and Bahrain, thereby enhancing the financial interlinkages between the two countries. Bursa Suq Al Sila’ is a purposefully designed  BIS Review 8/2010  1  exchanged-traded platform to facilitate commodity murabahah transactions. It is the first internet based platform in the world with crude palm oil (CPO) as its underlying base commodity. The establishment of Bursa Suq Al Sila’ in August 2009 is a collaborative initiative of the Central Bank of Malaysia, the Securities Commission, Bursa Malaysia and the market players that was conceptualised some three years ago. Bursa Suq Al-Sila’ will provide a viable alternative to the well functioning of liquidity management in Islamic financial system. The platform will provide another dimension to the liquidity management infrastructure of the Islamic banking industry; thus providing market players with greater tools to manage their assets and liabilities. It is expected to unlock a vast potential of opportunities for the Islamic financial industry by providing a wider range of new instruments. Not only can it be used for liquidity management and risk management purposes but players can derive additional linkages by utilising the platform to facilitate the creation of financing and deposit products. It creates a more transparent and streamlined commodity transaction practices based on the concept of murabahah or tawarruq.

This agreement thereby affects some 20% of the labour force and includes rules that reduce the risk of periods without agreements and rules that reduce the risk of conflicts breaking out. In the state sector, adaptation of pay bargaining has been facilitated by the frame budget process, which entails that wage development in the export industry shall set the level for state wage costs. With the intention of facilitating wage formation compatible with economic balance, the Government introduced a bill in December last year that included proposals to create a new agency, the Mediation Institute. The bill includes measures that aim to reduce the risk of conflict breaking out and are to come into effect if contractual solutions are not reached in some other way. In conclusion The state of the Swedish economy is better than for a very long time. Inflation expectations have stabilised around the target and economic policy is focused on continued consolidation of public finances. The prerequisites for the Riksbank to conduct monetary policy so that it contributes to stabilising growth around its long-term path are thereby improved. 5  BIS Review 20/2000  However, this does not mean that challenges are lacking with regard to striking the right balances in monetary policy. I have discussed some of these. One is the assessment of productivity growth and the potential growth in the next few years. There are still no signs that we will see a productivity growth such as in the USA.
To that end, investments in human capital aimed at improving the quality of the labor force in our country should be intensified and competition should be enhanced through effective regulations and implementations, especially in the goods market. The Competition Authority is one of the main institutional building blocks of the “open economy growth model” implemented in the period after 1980 and is based on strengthening the market economy. Competition policies and price stability, which is the core objective of the Central Bank, are strongly related. In an environment where competition conditions are ensured, monopolistic market behaviors will not be possible. Simplifying the entry and exit of firms to the various  BIS Review 37/2008  1  sectors and increasing transparency are the main factors preventing pricing habits that are based on a high profit margin. Additionally, due to pressures from both domestic and foreign competition, firms choose to implement strategies with the aim of increasing productivity, which in turn triggers innovation and technological development and contributes to the acceleration of the potential growth rate of our country. If firms increase profitability through measures that decrease costs instead of increasing prices, our country can reach higher growth rates in an environment of low inflation. Various instruments can be utilized to establish an effective competition environment in an economy.

This legislation included provisions requiring the 29 issuing banks to hold at least 40% of their banknotes in circulation in the form of currency metal. In other words, banknotes were a kind of cash substitute and did not qualify as legal instruments of payment. 7 Since banks did not gear their banknote issue to fluctuations in demand, there were regular bottlenecks in supply on days when large numbers of bills had to be paid. Our next leap in time takes us to the year 1950. By now, only Swiss coins and banknotes issued by the SNB were in circulation. The Confederation had transferred the exclusive right to issue banknotes to the SNB, which began business operations in 1907. Switzerland had been incorporated in the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system created in 1944, which was based on the US dollar as the lead currency – but ultimately on gold, since a fine ounce of gold was equivalent to precisely USD 35. However, for private individuals it had been impossible to exchange banknotes for gold at the SNB since 1936. 2  Paul Meier: Der Währungswirrwarr von der Helvetik bis zur Bundesverfassung, dissertation, Berne 1951, p. 60. 3  The true scale of the multiple currency confusion only became apparent 20 years later in connection with centralisation of the coinage system at federal level. At this point, in 1851 and 1852, following the introduction of the Swiss franc, the old types of domestic coins were collected.
It goes without saying that it is not only a quantitative issue and that at the same time the efficiency of research and development in terms of industrialisation  12  See P. Hartmann, F. Heider, E. Papaioannou and M. Lo Duca (2007), “The role of financial markets and innovation for productivity and growth in Europe”, ECB Occasional Paper forthcoming. 13  Some authors have calculated that if the average size of capital markets in the EU was bigger - in the US for instance this size is around 450% of GDP instead of 220% in the EU (based on an overall indicator measuring total financing in the economy by aggregating bank credit to the private sector, stock market capitalisation and the outstanding amount of domestic debt securities issued by the private sector) - then annual GDP per capita growth in the EU could be positively influenced (see G. Favara (2006), “An empirical reassessment of the relationship between finance and growth”, mimeo). 14  See the European Commission’s Green Paper entitled “Entrepreneurship in Europe”, 21.01.2003. 6  BIS Review 82/2007  is crucial. In the longer term, GDP could be up by 4.2% in 2015 and 7.0% in 2020, equivalent to an additional growth rate of nearly 0.5% per year 15 . Finally, to make these measures most effective, they need to be accompanied by efforts to improve the labour force’s level of education and expertise.

In the wholesale and retail trade sectors, hourly labour productivity significantly accelerated in the US from 0.7% to 2.6% over the periods 1980-1995 and 1996-2004, while at the same time it decelerated in the euro area from 2.3% to 1.3%. In the financial sectors, over the same periods, hourly labour productivity growth has also accelerated in the US and has been roughly 4 times higher than the growth rate observed in the euro area over the period 1996-2004. Several causes have been mentioned to explain this downward trend in the euro area. Specific policies aiming at increasing employment particularly in the unskilled segment of the labour market may have contributed to the observed slowdown in labour productivity growth. However, this apparent trade-off between labour utilisation and productivity is likely to be a temporary phenomenon that should progressively fade, when the economy reaches a higher “equilibrium” labour/output ratio. There is another major reason that explains the big difference in the rate of labour productivity growth in Europe compared with the US, which in my view is a major policy issue, namely the fact that the European economy, being more inflexible, does not fully take  2  OECD Employment Outlook. Data for 2006 are partly estimates. 3  There is in particular considerable scope to raise the employment rate of young people and further reform needs to be undertaken to achieve the more ambitious long-term objective of a 75% overall employment rate.
Students spend about one to two days in class, and three to four days at work each week for a period of one or two years. Now in its fourth year, the programme has taken in 37 students. This includes 22 who have graduated from the programme, of which 9 students have successfully secured a job oﬀer at the bank before graduation. The WSDeg programme is a win-win proposition. The students get an early taste of what the industry is like which can help them make better informed career decisions. For the firms, internships are an eﬀective talent attraction tool – employers can tell a lot more about the suitability of prospective employees through a short internship on the job compared to any number of interviews and tests. We need to dramatically scale up such programmes. https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/speeches/2020/gearing-up-for-new-and-evolving-jobs-in-financial-services  14/18  04/12/2020  "Gearing up for New and Evolving Jobs in Financial Services" - Remarks by Mr Ravi Menon, Managing Director, Monetary Authorit…  MAS will introduce a new Work-Study Support Programme to co-fund the internship stipend of students who are trainees at financial institutions under WSDeg programme. Funding will be at 80% of the monthly stipend, capped at $ per trainee. MAS has been working with the private banking industry for an indicative commitment of about 200 trainees over the next 3 years. We plan to expand our eﬀorts in other growth areas too, such as asset management.

Supply may adjust to demand more slowly due to limited capacities, a shortage of components and raw materials, logistics bottlenecks, and — with regard to the economy in general — due to the lack of a sufficient number of workers. It may take a long time to overcome these restrictions and ramp up supply. Until these problems are solved, elevated demand will not turn into higher consumption, but will only translate into an increase in prices for those consumers who will be ready — or simply forced — to buy products at higher prices. All other consumers will be unable to purchase more expensive goods. This is exactly what we are observing now. The situation with cars is probably the most telling example. 1/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  Excess demand, which cannot be met through an expansion of production, is not a source of additional economic growth. In such an environment, producers have the opportunity to easily pass their extra costs on to consumers. Hence, this discourages companies to enhance production and labour efficiency. Today, demand is fuelled by high inflation expectations. After the decrease in August and September, households’ and businesses’ inflation expectations are rising anew and have already returned to the peaks recorded in recent years. The longer inflation expectations stay elevated, the more we need to tighten our policy in order to bring inflation back to the target. We have considerably raised our inflation forecast for this year, as compared to July, namely to 7.4–7.9%.