The convergence works in both directions: research informs the policy work and policy work generates research questions. The end result is that our economists have the ability to be both highly respected in their disciplines from a research perspective, and also to make a significant contribution to policy development and implementation. There is an excellent value proposition both for the Bank and the economists that work here, as indicated by the publication record of our economists and their contribution to policy initiatives. Let me give you some more concrete examples of what our economists have worked on or are currently working on. I will focus on three broad buckets: prudential policy and financial stability; monetary and macroeconomic policy; and microeconomic and regional economic policy. Prudential policy and financial stability New York Fed economists, inside and outside our Research Group, provided substantial assistance to the design and development of the numerous emergency lender of last resort facilities implemented during the financial crisis. This was done in conjunction with the Board of Governors, but the contributions from the New York Fed were critical because of our unique vantage point with respect to operational implementation, financial markets, and financial market infrastructures. In a different vein, New York Fed economists assisted in designing, developing, and implementing supervisory stress testing, including the annual Comprehensive and Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR) supervisory stress tests. The New York Fed’s economists perspectives and measurements on how downturns affect bank portfolio values was crucial to the design of these tests.

Ardian Fullani: Monetary policy, from the past to the present Speech by Mr Ardian Fullani, Governor of the Bank of Albania, at the 10th international conference on “Monetary policy, from the past to the present”, Tirana, 26 October 2012. *  *  *  H.E. Prime Minister, Your Excellencies Ambassadors, Honourable Minister of Finance, Honourable Governors, Distinguished Guests and Participants, I am very honoured and privileged to open the proceedings of the Tenth Conference of the Bank of Albania. This conference is particularly important this year as it is organised in the framework of activities for the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Albania’s Independence and the 20th anniversary of the Bank of Albania. While retaining the scientific approach, the conference pays tribute to the endeavours made over the years in the monetary and finance aspects. In Bank of Albania’s view, the past is an essential element for the analysis and decisionmaking, and a requisite for theoretic or empirical research. At present, this is a necessity, a challenge that the economics world is facing. To scan, diagnose and cure the situation of the economy, a successful scholar would have to be able to read the human thought. Unfortunately, such a doctor does not exist. Therefore, in our days, the economic science is turning its attention to individual characteristics such as: history, ethnography and other national traits, considering them as substantial determinants for the stochastic process that leads the behaviour of economic agents.