echoed the fisheries management of the 1970s. risk quotas are calibrated and applied node by node, species by species approach, which takes no account of individual nodes ’ system - wide importance – for example, arising from their connectivity to other nodes in the network or their scale of operations. apart from interconnectedness, mr haldane also uses the natural relationship between diversity and stability to show how lack of diversity was a reason for collapse of the financial system. studies of coastal eco - systems, he said, reveal some dramatic patterns. for around 800 years, between the years 1000 – 1800 ad, fish stocks and species numbers were seemingly stable and robust. since then, almost 40 % of fish species across the world ’ s major coastal eco - systems have “ collapsed ” – defined here as a fall in population of greater than 90 %. that is systemic by any metric. there appear to be many environmental reasons for this collapse, some natural, others man - made. the financial system, mr. haldane observed, has mirrored the fortunes of the fisheries, for many of the same reasons. since the start of crisis many banks have seen their market capitalization fall by a significant amount - the fisheries equivalent of collapse. but what took marine eco - systems two hundred years to achieve has been delivered by financial engineers in two!! in explaining the collapse in fish and finance, lack of diversity seems to be a common denominator. i am sure that during the workshop, you will be discussing the various ways in which the costs and benefits of projects can be realistically assessed by incorporating the monetary value of the risks or threats to biodiversity or ecosystem services. what is equally important is for the workshop to discuss issues surrounding how to ensure that these costs and benefits actually get incorporated in a project appraisal. perhaps, the principles and rules for making for environment impact assessments ( eias ) should be broadened to include all aspects of environmental costs and benefits, such as impact on biodiversity and ecosystem services, instead of merely the immediate impact, say, on pollution. gains and losses to natural and human capital will thus need to factored - in as a mandatory requirement. once the assessment is done in this manner to ensure a rational allocation of resources, it is essential that goods and services are priced appropriately reckoning such costs and benefits as are not reflected in market valuations. where such costs and benefits are not fully captured in the pricing there would be an issue of subsidies and taxation to ensure appropriate

raghuram rajan : competition in the banking sector – opportunities and challenges talk by dr raghuram rajan, governor of the reserve bank of india, at the annual day lecture of the competition commission of india, new delhi, 20 may 2014. * * * good evening. shri ashok chawla, distinguished invitees, our friends from the press, and ladies and gentlemen : it is a great honour to be invited to deliver the annual day lecture at the competition commission of india. competition is the life force of a modern economy – it replaces dated and inefficient methods while preserving valuable traditions ; it rewards the innovative and energetic and punishes the merely connected ; it destroys the stability of the status quo while giving hope to the young and the outsider. true competition eliminates the need to plan, for as gravity guides water through the shortest path, competition naturally guides the economy to the most productive route. healthy competition is not just the best way to grow but also the best way to include all citizens ; what better way to get needed services to a poor housewife than to encourage providers to compete for her money? what better way to uplift a member of a backward community than for private employers to compete to hire her for a good job? healthy growth - inducing inclusive competition does not, however, emerge on its own. without intervention, we get the competition of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak. such competition only encourages a certain kind of winner, one who is adapted to the jungle rather than the world we want to live in. in contrast, healthy competition needs the helping hand of the government ; to ensure the playing field is level, that entry barriers are low, that there are reasonable rules of the game and clear enforcement of contracts, and that all participants have the basic capabilities such as education and skills to compete. governments have historically found it difficult to ensure such healthy competition because intervention has to be just right. governments typically are tempted to go beyond intervening to create a fair competitive environment, and instead have turned to determining winners and losers themselves. this typically has not worked out well. with this caveat, the creation of a healthier, more competitive environment in india could be the government ’ s most important contribution to sustainable economic growth in india over the medium term. and the competition commission will be a central player in this endeavour. whether in questioning existing government monopolies or the excessive market power of private players, you will be a key institution in the