intermediation channels reset, monetary policy will become still more efficacious. fed policy – both with respect to liquidity tools and monetary policy – is partially offsetting the consequences of the liquidity and credit pullback on real activity. but we must be careful to not ask policy to do more than it is rightly capable of accomplishing. the problems afflicting our financial markets are indeed long - in - the - making. correspondingly, the curative process is unlikely to be swift or smooth. time is an oft - forgotten, yet equally essential, tool of our policy response. epilogue some believe the story of the current market turmoil began in august, and will end when the housing market stabilizes. but, in my view, the narrative actually began in a seemingly more benign time with underpinnings more fundamental than the value of the housing stock. financial institutions and other market participants grew increasingly dependent on the extraordinary liquidity around them. when liquidity faltered, the weaknesses of the existing architecture abruptly revealed itself. a metaphor, perhaps, is instructive : fish don't know they are wet. and they don't learn unless their memories are long or the water is gone. a new financial architecture, born of the forces of creative destruction, is early in the process of construction with the aid of the federal reserve and other public authorities. but for the new paradigmatic architecture to be enduring, market - supplied liquidity must come to predominate. to that end, i remain confident that financial institutions and financial markets will evolve to meet these challenges.

jurgen stark : press briefing on new monetary and financial statistics introductory remarks by mr jurgen stark, member of the executive board of the european central bank, for the presentation of four new / enhanced datasets on monetary and financial statistics, frankfurt, 27 june 2011. * * * ladies and gentlemen, i would like to welcome you to this press briefing on monetary and financial statistics, which is dedicated to the presentation of two new and two extended sets of statistics. we are in an environment of continuous financial innovations and changes in the financial landscape. the ecb is determined to keep the monetary and financial statistics fit for use in that changing environment. the extended sets of statistics improve the existing balance sheet and interest rate reporting by “ monetary financial institutions ”, which means primarily banks representing the moneyissuing sector. these datasets are at the centre of our monetary analysis. the new statistics refer to detailed quarterly balance sheet information from financial vehicle corporations engaged in securitisation, often called securitisation vehicles, and from insurance corporations and pension funds. the new datasets close some gaps in the harmonised balance sheet reporting of the growing sector of euro area financial intermediaries outside the money issuing sector. these improvements and new developments are the result of very significant efforts undertaken by statisticians at the ecb and in the national central banks of the eurosystem. the work was carried out in close collaboration with policy - makers, analysts and the financial industry. in my view, this process brought about a proper balance between the benefits of the data for monetary policy and the burden of collecting it from respondents. as policy - makers, we need timely data, and the data must be harmonised across country borders, so that it can be readily aggregated at the euro area level. the new statistics fit in well with the much used term “ lessons learned from the financial crisis ”. at the same time, the new developments are the outcome of a process that has been pursued pro - actively and with a longer - term view, rather than re - actively and with a focus on the recent crisis. indeed, the development process started before the financial turmoil that escalated into a genuine crisis. the process involved the euro area as well as other eu countries. it was motivated by the need to fill gaps caused by the ongoing financial innovation and by structural changes within financial products and the financial sector. the analysis forming the basis for monetary policy decisions depends crucially on the quality and breadth of coverage of the available statistics