##dotal evidence, scientific analysis and academic research in the field of economic education are essential. the research conducted by the mannheim institute for financial education ( mife ) contributes to finding answers to these questions. this is because scientific, evidencebased insights can be used to make educational activities more targeted. and conferences such as the one today, which promote the regular exchange of ideas between the business community, academics and practitioners, are also important to that end. it is especially important for us as the bundesbank to obtain new academic stimuli and ideas for our educational work. this is why we are pleased to sponsor the early career research prize on financial literacy, which my colleague dr patricia staab, president of the baden - wurttemberg regional office, will present a little later on. thank you for your attention and i am looking forward to the discussion. 1 see, for instance, schmidt, t. and p. tzamourani ( 2017 ), zur finanziellen bildung der privaten haushalte in deutschland : ausgewahlte ergebnisse aus der studie " private haushalte und ihre finanzen ( phf ) ". diw vierteljahrshefte zur wirtschaftsforschung, 86 ( 4 ), pp. 31 - 49. 2 https : / / www. oecd. org / finance / oecd - recommendation - on - financial - literacy. htm 3 https : / / boeb. net / eckpunkte 6 / 6 bis - central bankers'speeches

during a downturn to smooth out consumption. 25 % of an economic shock is absorbed by the credit markets in the united states. all in all, something like 80 % of an economic shock in the united states is absorbed before it can take its toll on consumption. research in canada produces similar findings. 7 things look different in europe, however. here, it is mainly the credit markets which absorb economic shocks – and not particularly effectively at that. all told, only around 40 % of a given shock is cushioned before it impacts on consumption. 8 boosting the role played by the equity markets and their cross - border integration would thus contribute to improving risk sharing in europe. and it would cushion precisely those regional shocks to which a single monetary policy simply has no response. 6. capital markets union and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why the capital markets union is so important for monetary policy, too. p kenen ( 1969 ). the theory of optimum currency areas : an eclectic view, in r mundell and a swoboda ( eds ), monetary problems of the international economy, the university of chicago press. p asdrubali, b sørensen and o yosha ( 1996 ). channels of interstate risk sharing : us 1963 – 1990, in : quarterly journal of economics, 111 ( 4 ), pp 1081 – 1110. f s balli, s kalemli - ozcan and b e sørensen ( 2012 ). risk sharing through capital gains, in : canadian journal of economics, vol 45 ( 2 ), pp 472 – 492. a afonso and d furceri ( 2007 ). business cycle synchronization and insurance mechanisms in the eu, ecb working paper, no 844. bis central bankers ’ speeches a comparison with the united states shows that europe still has plenty of upside potential when it comes to capital market integration. the us equity market is 50 % bigger than its european counterpart, the venture capital market is five times the size of that in europe, and the us securitisation market is larger still than the european market. i ’ m not saying that europe ’ s financial system will resemble its us counterpart any time soon. after all, the structure of the financial system reflects the corporate make - up of an economy – and in an economy like europe ’ s, which has a relatively high share of smes, banks are likely to remain the main source of financing –