' speeches emerging risks and of the prudential policy stance. for example, at present the definition of income in the denominator in dti and dsti ratios supplied to the ecb is not homogeneous : some countries base these ratios on net income and others on gross income. using a gross income concept leads to lower levels of dti or dsti than using a net income concept. another example is that valuation methodologies for rre and cre are not aligned, with germany and austria using a long - term sustainable value concept and others using true market value. developments in valuations across countries are therefore not comparable. the third benefit from higher - quality real estate statistics would be for policy implementation. greater granularity in rre data would help in calibrating macroprudential policies and tailoring them to specific segments of the borrowing population. at present, most countries rely on qualitative methods for policy calibration, as the lack of granular data on lending standards prevents them from using more sophisticated quantitative methods. for the cre sector, improved data coverage would enable policymakers to identify local price bubbles before they enter into national data. that would in turn facilitate region - specific policy guidance, such as the introduction of lending limits on commercial property in a specific city. finally, more complete data would improve ex post assessments of policy effectiveness. once macroprudential policies are introduced, it is far more difficult to monitor their impact on the target variables if only aggregate data are available. in addition, more granular information on the distribution of credit standards would allow policymakers to assess whether policies are effective in curbing tail risks. closing the gaps in real estate statistics work is now under way to close the gaps in real estate statistics. in 2016, the esrb published a recommendation laying the foundations for improving the availability and comparability of data on real estate markets in the eu. 7 the recommendation on closing real estate data gaps provides detailed definitions of the indicators needed to monitor real estate sectors across countries, and sets data requirements in terms of granularity and frequency. it includes a specific requirement for the european supervisory authorities to disclose annually aggregated information on the exposure to real estate markets of the entities under their supervision. the need for detailed data on real estate markets for prudential purposes was also recognised by the economic and financial affairs council in 2017. that said, statisticians in europe – and further afield – still need to resolve a number of technical issues

mr. greenspan comments on the current direction of the us economy and the fiscal situation in the united states testimony by the chairman of the board of the us federal reserve system, mr. alan greenspan, before the committee on the budget of the us senate on 29 / 1 / 98. mr. chairman and members of the committee, in just a few weeks, the federal reserve board will submit its semiannual report on monetary policy to the congress. that report, and my accompanying testimony, will give a detailed assessment of the outlook for the us. economy and the implications for monetary policy. this morning, i would like to direct most of my comments to the fiscal situation. but let me begin by offering a few observations about the current direction of the economy. first, it is clear that the u. s. economy has been exceptionally healthy, with robust gains in output, employment, and income. at the same time, inflation has remained low - indeed, declining by most measures - - over the past year. second, to date, we have as yet experienced only the peripheral winds of the asian crisis. but before spring is over, the abrupt current - account adjustments that financial difficulties are forcing upon several of our asian trading partners will be showing through here in reductions in demand for our exports and intensified competition from imports. all of this suggests that the growth of economic activity in this country will moderate from the recent brisk pace. third, as i ’ ve noted previously, such a moderation would appear helpful at this juncture. the growth of output has caused employment to rise much faster than the working - age population and there are limits to how far this can go. pressures in the labor market likely contributed to the acceleration of wages in recent months. since price inflation has been minimal and domestic profit margins firm, productivity appears to have accelerated sufficiently last year to damp increases in unit labor costs. how long that pattern can continue is still an unresolved issue. the likelihood that we shall be seeing some lower prices on imported goods as a result of the difficulties in asia may afford some breathing room from inflation pressures. but they will not permanently suppress the risks inherent in tightened labor markets. conversely, a continuation of the asian crisis should give us pause in assuming that our economy will remain robust indefinitely. as a consequence, we must be vigilant to the re - emergence of destabilizing influences - - both higher inflation, and shortfalls in demand and decreases in some prices that would press the