samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Fostering connections between community colleges and employers is one way we can help to make sure the next generation is ready for the opportunities our economy has to offer. We’ve published loads of research on this subject, and we’re putting some of our findings into practice with a series of roundtables, collaborating with colleges, workforce development organizations, and employers across the state. Displacement and equitable growth are areas where we can do more. I’m pleased to share that later this year we’ll be hosting a series of listening sessions on these topics. We plan to bring together community development experts and nonprofits to better understand what’s happening across the district. We want to know what’s worked in the communities that have seen equitable growth, the challenges for those that haven’t, and what we can do about it. We hope the findings from these sessions serve as a tool for those areas on the cusp of gentrification to ensure every part of the community benefits from local investment. Catalyze Finally, I’m going to turn to this idea of how we can be a catalyst for action. Our desire to create change is the reason we created resource guidebooks—publications that collate data, information, and contacts about specific communities. We’ve published guidebooks for parts of New York State and New Jersey, and we have another one in the works for Puerto Rico. They act as a starting point for local stakeholders and investors looking to support equitable growth in underserved areas.

Despite the unfavorable developments in food prices, almost a year after monetary tightening, core inflation indicators displayed a significant deceleration starting from the second quarter of 2007. The effects of tightening were clearly visible on the prices of durable goods and services consistent with the slowdown in the economic activity in the related sectors. The weaker demand, coupled with a strong domestic currency, helped durables inflation to come down significantly (Figure 8). In this respect, services inflation also eased remarkably, declining by 3.6 percentage points throughout 2007. The improvement in  BIS Review 20/2008  5  services inflation spread across all sub-items. Especially, the fall in rent inflation, the stickiest component of services inflation, was significant (Figure 9). Figure 8: Durable Goods Prices (Annual Percentage Change)  18 15 12 9 6 3 0 -3 -6 -9 -12  1007  0707  0407  0107  1006  0706  0406  0106  Durables (Excl.Gold) Furniture Electrical&Non-Electrical Appl. Automobile  Source: TURKSTAT, CBRT. Figure 9: Services Group Sub-Items (Annual Percentage Change)  20  2006 2007  16 12 8 4 0 Transport Services  Rent  RestaurantsHotels  Other Services  Source: TURKSTAT, CB. The significant deceleration in the core inflation indicators set the ground for a relatively less restrictive monetary policy. Hence, we decided to start the measured easing cycle in September 2007 with a 25 basis-points cut, while continuing with 50 basis-points in the consecutive three meetings.
After we have determined this, then it is better for a small and open economy, such as the Macedonian, it to be fixed. Why? Because if we have a floating exchange rate, we will have higher inflation and higher interest rates for the real sector. So, I cannot understand those who stand for a floating exchange rate, though they are a minority, because the vast majority already agrees that the current exchange rate regime best suited our economy. And those who are most vocal about the floating exchange rate, are the same ones who claim that current interest rates are high. Well, then they would be even higher. Therefore, I do not see what would be the benefit, how it will contribute to higher growth. There are opinions that it is easier to be Governor of a fixed rate, that it requires less managing of the monetary policy. Is that so? It is true. It is easier to manage a fixed exchange rate than a floating one. However, regarding the advantage of a fixed exchange rate for the economy I would point out the experience of Serbia. Serbia has a floating exchange rate and since 2008 the exchange rate has depreciated some 50 percent. During the entire period, however, Serbia has had an inflation of over 10 percent, and the interest rates for the real sector have constantly been around 14 to 15 percent. Therefore, lately, the Serbian Central Bank stabilized the exchange rate, too.

For the next year, we are more optimistic, and in our projections we expect credit growth of up to 9 percent. In July, the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia made changes in the reserve requirement and also reduced the key interest rate to 3.25 percent, which is the historically lowest level. When do you expect the effects? We made some changes, so that we reduced the reserve requirement ratio for denar deposits and we increased that for the foreign currency deposits. Our goal is to stimulate denar saving at the expense of the saving in foreign currency, which in this way will become more expensive, while saving in denars will become cheaper. Shortly after that, we reduced the key interest rate to 3.25 percent, thus sending a signal to the banks that there is room for greater lending activity. Even that small amount of loans does not go to the companies, but mainly to the citizens. Why is that so and when will it change? In 2009, soon after the outbreak of the global economic crisis, banks here immediately stopped lending to households, while they continued to lend to companies. It allowed banks to clean the loan portfolio of the households, i.e. to eliminate the bad loans in the meantime. Therefore, now they have room to re-start lending to the households, and they are doing it. The process of cleaning the credit portfolios of the companies, however, was left out at that point, so it began more intensively last year, and continued this year.
News conference  Berne, 15 December 2016 Andréa M. Maechler  Introductory remarks by Andréa M. Maechler  I will begin by reviewing the situation on the financial markets, before going on to talk about the impact of negative interest on the money and capital markets. I will finish my presentation with a few comments on the progress that has been made in reforming benchmark interest rates. Situation on the financial markets  Since the last news conference in June, movements on the financial markets have been heavily influenced by two political events: the unexpected outcome of the Brexit vote in June and the US presidential election in November. Both events generated short-term uncertainty among investors. Nevertheless, positive risk sentiment prevailed overall. Leading equity indices in the US, Japan and Europe have recorded price gains since mid-year (cf. chart 1). In the US, all key indices hit new record highs at the beginning of December. In Switzerland, the SMI, however, lagged behind the general trend: it is currently virtually unchanged from its mid-year level. The reason for this is the index’s strong weighting in defensive equities, from the healthcare and consumer goods sector for example. These securities, which tend to benefit less from increasing risk appetite among investors, came under selling pressure as a result of rising interest rates. On bond markets, high-quality government bond yields have climbed since mid-year (cf. chart 2a). Firstly, economic data bolstered investor confidence in a global economic recovery.

2  2 http://www.snb.ch/en/ifor/finmkt/fnmkt_benchm/id/finmkt_reformrates  Page 4/7  Berne, 15 December 2016 Andréa M. Maechler  News conference  Slides  Page 5/7  Berne, 15 December 2016 Andréa M. Maechler  News conference  Page 6/7  Berne, 15 December 2016 Andréa M. Maechler  News conference  Page 7/7
The difference in credit growth between households and non-financial enterprises is a good illustration of Norway’s dual economy. Over the past few years, credit growth has been far higher for households than for enterprises. The level of household credit growth has remained high recently in spite of increased unemployment and a downward revision of the prospects for economic growth. An important reason for this is the sharp rise in house prices in recent years. Low investment demand is reflected in credit to non-financial enterprises, which has declined to a very low level. Developments in prices for commercial property compared to house prices also indicate that the situation is better for households. The current level of vacancy in commercial premises is very high. Although lower interest rates will, in isolation, stimulate investment, a substantial share of the vacant premises will probably have to be filled before renewed growth can be expected. Developments in mainland enterprises have been characterised by low output growth, falling investment and declining profitability in many industries. In order to boost returns on invested capital, enterprises have taken steps to reduce costs, primarily by reducing their workforce or relocating parts of their production abroad. There are some positive impulses, however. Interest rates are low, and equity prices have increased sharply since the trough in February 2003. The krone has depreciated and there are signs of a global upturn. Wage growth has moderated and cost inflation is likely to be lower than in the years from 1998 to 2002.

The situation in the United States, where the economy is in a cyclically more advanced position and employment levels are close to their structural low, is conducive to the Federal Reserve normalising monetary policy. However, the absence of inflationary pressure, the downturn in and uncertainty over the global economy, and doubts about when interest rates will begin to rise all cast a shadow which has prompted very mixed expectations. As for developments in emerging economies, the slowdown in China, sharp adjustments to its share prices and the depreciation of its currency during the summer have heightened the risks of a steeper-than-expected fall in activity, with effects on the global economy through trade and commodity prices and via indirect contagion effects owing to higher risk aversion in international financial markets. The main issue regarding the Chinese economy is not whether it slows by a fraction of a percentage point more than projected, but rather the external consequences of such a development. For example, a slowdown in growth to around 6% of GDP, compared with 7.3% in 2014, is no grave cause for concern. In principle, these figures, which largely reflect the change in China’s production model to an economy more geared towards consumption, can be managed by the authorities. The uncertainty lies in the difficulty of evaluating the external effects of such changes, and the fact that the differing forecasts of private and public agents are reflected in greater volatility in financial markets.
For no less than 12 years before the launch of the euro, six of the twelve currencies which now make up the euro – and represent almost two thirds of euro-area GDP - had proven remarkably stable, and were not realigned within the ERM. This high degree of confidence also stems from the acknowledged efficiency of the operational set-up of the Eurosystem, which is based on the principle of decentralisation stipulated in the Treaty. The Eurosystem is a team. The European monetary team now comprises the ECB and the national central banks of twelve Member States, following the  BIS Review 96/2001  1  Bank of Greece’s entry on 1 January 2001. All the members of the Eurosystem work in close co-operation. c)  The credibility of the Eurosystem lies, fundamentally, in its stability-oriented monetary policy strategy. The Maastricht Treaty has given us a mandate for maintaining price stability. We have decided to be as clear and as transparent as possible by providing a clear definition of price stability: that is to say a year-on-year increase in the overall Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) of the euro area of below 2%. The aim of the single monetary policy is to ensure medium-term price stability, therefore creating a favourable monetary and financial environment for economic growth. Price stability offers an anchor for wage negotiators, and is a necessary factor for competitiveness, which is in turn essential for achieving balanced and therefore sustainable economic growth. The euro area is however a complex financial and economic zone.

These  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  estimations conditioned the retaining of the stimulating nature of monetary policy during the second quarter of 2012. The key rate stood at the lowest historical level, providing eased monetary conditions in order to meet our inflation target and support the Albania’s economic activity. Also, the Bank of Albania has continued to inject sufficient liquidity demanded by the banking system, against an expanded collateral base and at adequate maturity terms. According to recent data from INSTAT, the Albanian economy recorded an annual fall of 0.2% in the first quarter of 2012. Industry contracted 19.3% y-o-y, mainly due to the significant decrease in electrical energy output. Also, Construction decreased its activity in real terms, by 17.6%, thus providing a negative contribution to the performance of the gross domestic product. By contrast, Services contributed positively to the economic activity, pointing to an annual growth of 6.0%. Agricultural sector grew 4.5%, y-o-y during this period, providing a positive contribution to the growth of the gross domestic product. Estimations on the aggregate demand in the first quarter of 2012 suggest a continuing weak domestic demand. The consolidated fiscal policy determined the lack of fiscal stimulus in this period and a downturn in public sector’s demand for goods and services. Private consumption remains slow, thus reflecting the prudent consumer’s behaviour and the increasing tendency for saving. Private investments also remained low.
Here, we need both more data and more analysis in the coming years to gain a better understanding of these mechanisms and of how monetary policy can and should react to this type of slow structural change in the economy.9 Central banks strive to stabilise resource utilisation around a long-term sustainable level. We know at the same time that climate risks and other environmental problems are mispriced, and I will come back to why this is so later in my speech. How we, as a central bank, should consider this and other market failures is far from obvious. Bearing in mind the potentially serious consequences of mispriced  7  See Cœuré (2019) for a discussion. See Brainard (2019). 9 See Debelle (2019). 8  6 [18]  climate risks, I would welcome a debate on the various benefits and drawbacks of taking this market failure into account.10  A severe economic crisis The final and third scenario is the most serious – a severe economic crisis. The transition to more sustainable development could trigger dramatic and rapid changes in financial markets, and in the worst case a financial crisis.11 What starts with financial instability tends to generate serious effects in the real economy with falling growth, rising unemployment and lower inflation. There is a certain unease in Sweden and in many other countries that central banks will have difficulty combatting a new economic crisis.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has also faced a number of challenges since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2007. We have repeatedly been forced to counteract the adverse effects of enormous shocks to the Swiss economy, in line with our mandate to ensure price stability, while taking due account of economic developments in Switzerland. At the current juncture, the economic uncertainty in the euro area, in particular, is of great concern to Switzerland and the SNB. While we cannot influence the developments in the euro area, we can act in a resolute and timely manner to dampen the negative implications for our country. The most visible measure we have taken is undoubtedly the introduction, almost exactly one year ago, of the minimum exchange rate. In the current situation, a further appreciation of the Swiss franc would constitute a very substantial threat to the Swiss economy, and would carry with it the risk of deflationary developments. With this in mind, we will continue to enforce the minimum exchange rate with the utmost determination, in line with our mandate. Today, however, I do not want to talk primarily about monetary policy, but about the Swiss financial industry. Allow me to start by explaining why the financial industry, in general, and a healthy and stable banking sector, in particular, are of vital interest to the SNB. There are two main reasons. First, the banking system fulfils a key financial intermediary role in the economy.
This is particularly due to the profitability given by wide interest rate margins on the domestic market as well as to the fast-paced increase in lending via traditional banking products. Secondly, the overwhelming majority of banks operating in Romania, including those with foreign capital, are legal entities subject to NBR licensing, regulation and prudential supervision. Similarly to foreign bank branches having their main office in other EU Member States, these banks abide by the Basel II prudential and capital adequacy standards. Thirdly, some regulations issued by the National Bank of Romania have often proved more restrictive than the Basel II standards. More specifically, initial capital requirements for licensing a credit institution in Romania are almost twice as much as the minimum level laid down in EU regulations. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that the NBR representatives are part of the competent EU structures involved in the review and improvement of EU regulations governing the financial system architecture. Last but not least, the minimum reserve requirement ratios are still high at 20% on RONdenominated liabilities with maturities of up to 2 years and 40% on foreign currencydenominated liabilities. In addition to their contribution to curbing credit expansion, reserve requirements also play a prudential role in credit institutions maintaining an adequate liquidity level. Finally, let me point out the measures recently taken by the central bank with a view to ensuring sustainable credit growth in the longer-run. These measures are all the more useful amid the persistent turbulences on global financial markets.

We have to make sure that when achieving the nominal criteria a substantial progress in real convergence will have been achieved as well. Thus, in my presentation today I thought that, by giving an analysis of the Romanian economy’s path to the adoption of the European single currency, it is adequate to focus not only on nominal convergence, a topic which I have repeatedly approached, but also on several issues pertaining to real economic convergence. Or, this means, in a plain language, to put in place the conditions necessary for a rapid, sound and sustainable economic growth. The large disparities between the performance of the Romanian economy and that of European Union countries compel us to do that. In this context, allow me to approach a topic less debated during public meetings in our country, but which is deeply linked to the capacity of the Romanian economy to maintain a rapid and sustainable growth. It is all about the general problems relative to structural reforms and, in particular, about labour market flexibility, the imperative need for this to come into line with the most modern practices applied in successful countries, by taking into account both the realities of the Romanian economy, and the requirements of competition on an increasingly demanding international market. At first glance, there are few connections between the changeover to the euro and labour market flexibility. In fact, the connection is strong, even essential, I would say.
This would make it possible to bring the debt ratio down by about fifteen points over ten years. The point here is not to call for a general cut in spending, but rather a slower increase in spending: this is far from the famous "austerity" that we French people are so keen to criticise without ever having experienced it. This would be fully compatible with the functioning of automatic stabilisers, to take account of the economic situation. Of course,this implies no further tax cuts, which we can hardly afford to finance. Page 4 of 9 The Cour des Comptes stated it loud and clear, and rightly so:ii we must therefore stop indefinitely postponing fiscal consolidation. It is not an arbitrary question of threshold or narrow-minded ideology. Our solidarity with future generations is at stake: we do not have the moral right to leave them, in addition to a climate debt that so rightly worries them, a financial debt whose share of GDP has already almost doubled in 20 years. And our political credibility in Europe is also at stake, as well as our ability to inspire lasting confidence in investors. If any doubts as to the sustainability of the French debt were to arise, we could always borrow, but the financial conditions would be different: take a look around, including at several of our European neighbours. And this brings me to the second illusion, that of cost-free debt. 2.

Financial cooperation Financial cooperation is a critical component of this effort. Financial services is a significant part of our (6-7%) regional economy, and is a growing sector. But it is not just the size of the market that makes financial services important. The Asian Crisis has demonstrated that with globalisation and greater ease in transferring funds around the world, it is more critical than ever that our financial sectors be sound, and our economies not be weakened by excesses. In recognition of the importance of the financial sector, the ASEAN Finance Ministers started to meet in February 1997. We have introduced important co-operation initiatives, such as the ASEAN Surveillance Process to keep track of economic and financial trends and to provide early warning of economic vulnerabilities, and the ASEAN Finance Work Program to improve financial procedures, standards and corporate governance within member countries. These are important mechanisms to guard against a repeat of the Asian Crisis. To further liberalise and integrate our markets, the Finance Ministers last year endorsed a roadmap for regional financial integration. This will guide us towards greater liberalisation and integration of our markets. To keep ASEAN on the radar screens of international investors, Finance Ministers are planning to organise joint road-shows to Europe and the US to promote the investment opportunities in ASEAN. One possible area for collaboration is in the capital markets.