Another conclusion is that in an environment of good, swiftly and decisively-implemented policies that are accepted by the public, the euroization of the economy is not mandatory. Witness in this respect is the experience of the Czech Republic, which has brought inflation down early on, making lending in domestic currency as attractive as that in foreign currency. 5. Central bank’s objective: should financial stability be added? Before the outbreak of the global financial crisis, the conventional lines of thought advocated the idea that markets do self-correct always. The overconfidence in the infallibility of the invisible hand of the market generated a widespread belief that ample interventions by the authorities were not warranted in order to contain economic and financial imbalances at an early stage. Moreover, there was a prevailing view in the academic world that inflation was the main culprit for financial instability. By way of consequence, safeguarding price stability was looked upon as an almost sufficient prerequisite for promoting financial stability. Against this background, central banks’ core contribution to preserving and strengthening financial stability consisted in delivering low inflation rates. However, not everyone agreed. Prior to the outburst of the crisis, several economists had publicly expressed doubts on the viability of mainstream economic thought or had warned against some of its vulnerabilities. Special mention deserves Crockett, who claimed ever since 2003 that the “peace dividend” yielded by the successful war against inflation had not lived up to expectations and therefore the battlefront against financial instability should not be overlooked.

Europe has already made good progress on this with the fifth EU anti-money laundering directive, which obliges providers of cryptocurrencies platforms and wallets to report conspicuous transactions to the authorities. When it comes to the use of new technologies such as blockchain, we need to weigh things up carefully. On the one hand, similar 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  activities should be regulated in a similar way, so the requirements for (say) blockchain transactions need to be similarly stringent to those for traditional transfers. On the other hand, we should be careful not to stifle new, innovative technologies. Some central banks are thinking about developing their own cryptocurrencies. The ECB as well? Whether central banks should develop their own digital currencies is a relevant question in countries where people are turning away from cash. There is then a case for offering them a digital alternative safer than commercial money. This is why we are seeing such initiatives in Scandinavia, for example. But in the euro area, cash remains a popular means of payment and the question does not arise. To be clear: the ECB is not developing a crypto currency. That said, as all central banks, we are studying in depth the underlying technologies, such as blockchain. Cyber security is just one of the risks currently facing the economy. Another is the escalating trade dispute. How well prepared is Europe on this front? The euro area economy is proving very robust at the moment. There have been five years of uninterrupted growth.