might also be an increasing politicisation of the exchange rate. so far, the international monetary system has come through the crisis without competitive devaluations and i hope very much that things stay like that. now, in japan of all places there may be more obvious problems than inflation and a weak currency. it is not without good reason, however, that central banks have been given independence and a narrow mandate. this was a lesson of the 1970s and early 1980s – a time when many countries had high inflation rates, sometimes in double digits. in the united states, this era is called the “ great inflation ”, which was followed in the mid1980s by the “ great moderation ”, a period of moderate inflation rates and dampened economic cycles. and, then, along with the “ great financial crisis ” came the “ great recession ”. “ great ” is a famously popular, not to say overused adjective on the other side of the atlantic. the experience of the great inflation was, in any event, that independent central banks with a narrow, credible mandate enjoyed greater success in combating inflation. as a result, many central banks worldwide were given independence in the 1980s and 1990s. when the bank of england was granted independence in 1997, gordon brown, then chancellor of the exchequer, said “ the previous arrangements for monetary policy were too short - termist, encouraging short but unsustainable booms and higher inflation, followed inevitably by recession. ” the depoliticisation of money and central banks ’ stability orientation undoubtedly made a key contribution to the great moderation. the decline in inflation during this period was, admittedly, also assisted by other developments, such as globalisation. to that extent, the great moderation can be seen as halcyon days for monetary policy. since the outbreak of the crisis, the environment has become noticeably less favourable for central bankers. the growing demand for energy and raw materials on the part of the up - and - coming economies has tended to make the inflation - dampening impact of globalisation flip over into rising pressure on prices. in the wake of the financial, economic and sovereign debt crisis, central banks are being urged to take measures to support the financial system, stimulate economic activity, reduce government funding costs and even safeguard government solvency. overburdening central banks with tasks and expectations, however, is certainly not the right way to achieve a lasting solution to the crisis. the central banks, in turn, will best protect

ravi menon : a vibrant carbon market for a low carbon future opening remarks by mr ravi menon, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at the climate impact x announcement event, singapore, 20 may 2021. * * * minister for national development mr desmond lee, ladies and gentleman, good afternoon. let me start with the big picture. to limit global warming to 1. 5°c, global annual greenhouse gas emissions need to be halved by 2030 and reduced to net - zero by 2050. yet, the trajectory of carbon emissions is still on a steady uptrend. just on energy needs alone, demand in asia is projected to double in 2030. economic development will drive demand for fossil fuels, which is still the cheapest way to generate electricity in many parts of asia. the switch to cleaner energy sources cannot be made in one leap. coal accounts for about half of asia ’ s total energy supply today. we need to shift the energy mix progressively, first to relatively less emissions - intensive fuels like natural gas, and then to renewables. this shift will require fundamental infrastructure changes : refurbishing power plants to generate cleaner fuels ; and upgrading the power grids to manage different energy sources and to minimise the intermittency of renewables. to make this progressive shift to a low - carbon future, asia will need a lot more transition financing than is available today. to spur more green finance for transition, we need to have two things in place : a price on carbon, and a market for trading carbon credits. carbon prices and carbon markets climate change is the result of probably the biggest market failure in history. for the longest time, the world did not put a price on the carbon emissions that have steadily degraded our environment and now pose serious climate risks. a meaningful price on carbon is critical to create the right incentives to reduce emissions. the challenge is to arrive at the right price, one that does not unduly impede economic development and yet is sufficient to drive decarbonisation efforts that will enable the world to meet its climate targets. carbon pricing is gaining momentum. globally, there are 61 carbon pricing initiatives in place, half of them carbon taxes and the other half emissions trading systems. 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches singapore introduced in 2019 a carbon tax of $ 5 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions, to establish the principle of a price on emissions. the original intention was to gradually raise the tax from 2023 onwards to between