growth rate is due partly to the deceleration in productivity growth. to give you one example, it appears that there is substantial room for productivity improvements in it - related sectors. both in it - producing and it - using sectors, productivity growth is lower than in the united states ( chart 10 ). in this context, a survey on firms in the united states and japan provides instructive results : compared to firms in the united states, fewer firms in japan attach importance to it investment or have a chief information officer ( cio ). these results suggest that strengthening japan ’ s growth potential is not something that can be achieved through the government ’ s growth strategy alone ; what is also needed are greater efforts on the part of the private sector to strengthen competitiveness. vi. lessons for europe finally, i would like to make a few comparisons between japan ’ s lost decades and europe since the global financial crisis. what is worth noting is that in europe the policy response has been quick and decisive. in addition to innovative policy measures such as the coordinated provision of dollar funds by the major central banks through swap arrangements, financial system instability was warded off through the provision of ample liquidity, preventing the financial crisis from turning into a global panic. moreover, on the institutional front, the single supervisory mechanism ( ssm ) for the supervision of banks became operational. further, i expect that efforts to deal with remaining issues such as the full operation of the single resolution mechanism ( srm ) charged with the resolution of failed financial institutions and the expeditious recapitalization of undercapitalized banks will make good progress. meanwhile, on the monetary policy front, the ecb has stressed from an early stage the risks associated with a potential decline in inflation expectations. in fact, the ecb has responded very proactively, being the first among major central banks to introduce a negative interest rate policy and combining it with asset purchases. there is also perceived to be a need to redouble efforts to drive ahead with structural reforms to raise the potential growth rate. however, this too is clearly recognized, as indicated in president draghi ’ s observation that low interest rates are not the consequence of monetary policy but a symptom of low growth and low inflation. i am convinced that the risk of a japanization of the euro economy is small, given that european policy makers are aware of the issues and are responding appropriately. conclusion in my speech today i tried to look back at japan ’ s

should be able to spend it easily. these instruments possess neither of these characteristics, so they do not constitute “ money. ” so, what are cryptocurrencies, exactly? characteristics vary widely but, generally speaking, they can be thought of as securities. the canada revenue agency agrees. that means, if you buy and sell them at a profit, you have income that needs to be reported for tax purposes. what their true value is may be anyone ’ s guess — perhaps the most one can say is that buying these things means buying risk, which makes it closer to gambling than investing. to be absolutely clear, i am not giving investment advice. i never do. all i will say to people intending to buy a so - called cryptocurrency is that you should read the fine print and make sure you know what you are getting into. the bank of canada does not regulate these instruments and their markets, just as we do not regulate traditional securities and their markets. but one question that does preoccupy me is, what does the arrival of cryptocurrencies mean for the cash in your pocket? supplying the canadian dollars you need to carry out your business is one of the bank ’ s most important mandates. it is often forgotten that the cash provided by a central bank is the only truly risk - free means of payment. with cash, buyers and sellers can be certain that payment is final. this is an absolutely vital public good, which has always been provided by the central bank. all other payment types, from debit cards to credit cards to cheques, work through intermediaries in the financial system. yes, of course, they are safe. but, fundamentally, they can never be quite as risk - free as cash. just ask yourself — if you were concerned that an imminent cyber attack was about to hit the financial system, would you not want to carry some extra cash until everything was back to normal? nonetheless, it is natural that transactions using electronic payments, such as debit and credit cards, continue to grow in volume and value relative to cash. it is certainly possible that the demand for digital cash could grow over time. if so, there could be very strong arguments for the 5 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches central bank to provide it, given its obligation to fulfill the public good function. bank staff are exploring the circumstances under which it might be appropriate for the central bank to issue its own digital currency for retail transactions. all