per year, reached 44, 000, which is a significant increase. however, the rate of land marketed by the state then declined, and the rate of building starts fell to 40, 000 per year. according to the israel lands administration, the problem is with the authorities approving building plans, without whose approvals they cannot continue marketing land. the way to handle housing prices must come from the supply side. what we cannot do is to use the interest rate, which is a policy tool that affects the entire economy, only to handle housing prices. people tell us that we took too heavy a responsibility on ourselves in terms of housing prices. this reminds me of those who argue that the chairman of the federal reserve, ben bernanke, releases the government from its responsibility to stabilize the economy by doing everything he can to spur its growth. we do what we can, and i wouldn ’ t want to cause damage to the entire population in order to teach politicians how to act better. the problem of poverty in israel is not easy to solve, since poverty is concentrated mainly in two population groups – the ultra - orthodox and the arabs – although this is not to minimize the problem of poverty among the rest of the general population. however, among the ultra - bis central bankers ’ speeches orthodox, less than half of men participate in the workforce, and among the arabs, just 20 percent of women work. therefore, we cannot deal with poverty by providing grants that will raise all of the poor above the poverty line due to the effect such a policy will have on employment incentives. we will need to find a solution to this complex problem. observing both historic and expected demographic trends shows continued growth in the arab and ultra - orthodox segments of the population. if these labor market trends continue, we will reach a situation where half of the population belongs to sectors where labor force participation is low, while the other half finances it. this won't happen, because we cannot continue to be in such a situation, and the relevant population groups understand this. other challenges that the economy will need to deal with over the long term include improving achievements in the educational system and reducing bureaucracy, which weights heavily on economic activity, as reflected, for instance, in the world bank ’ s “ doing business ” index. all in all, the israeli economy is a success story. if we think about the history of the economy, the security situation, the challenges that we have met, we have succeeded in building a flourishing economy. as

associated with the emergence of alternative currencies to those issued by central banks. technology firms with large ecosystems, or technology itself can create new non - fiat currencies. while today ’ s crypto instruments ( e. g. bitcoin ) have failed to become money, we should not discount the possibility of better algorithms leading to viable cryptocurrencies as a global medium of exchange in the future. but the widespread use of private cryptocurrencies could lead to an erosion of the nation state ’ s monetary sovereignty. this will in turn have implications for central banks ’ ability to safeguard financial stability. as mark points out, the continued centrality of public money in the financial system is key to safeguarding the soundness and stability of all money in the economy. a pre - condition for this is that state - issued currency remains the domestic economy ’ s predominant unit of account. the currencies of small, open economies may be particularly vulnerable to loss of monetary sovereignty. they do not have the global network effects that currencies of larger nations enjoy. markus brunnermeier and others have highlighted the possibility of “ digital currency areas ” that transcend national borders with even larger and more powerful network effects. currency competition is not a challenge that we are unfamiliar with. small open economies in particular have always needed to keep their currencies relevant domestically to preserve monetary autonomy. the benefits of an independent monetary policy have to be weighed against the efficiency gains from adopting a more widely used currency. pegging to the us dollar, the euro or even a synthetic hegemonic currency is one thing ; losing monetary sovereignty to a currency that is the liability of a private entity is another. to sum up, money must ultimately be trusted if it is to fulfil its function in the economy. as public institutions which have built up credibility over time, central banks are best placed to safeguard the trust that underpins sound money and safe payments. this trust is not just about money that is safe, but also about a monetary system that is dynamic and purposeful. as mark has emphasised, it must continually improve how it serves the people who depend on it daily. the key question on the future of money is this : what is the appropriate division of labour between the public and private sector? there is a continuum that spans, at one extreme, a completely centralised system where there is only central bank money, and at the other extreme a decentralised system where