bundesbank ’ s supervisors out of a job ; far from it. but it will change some of the key focuses of their work. ladies and gentlemen, in view of the dizzying pace of change in china at the turn of the millennium, it was said that you could be glad if your bed was still in your bedroom when you woke up in the morning. the pace of change in europe is certainly slower than that – and, to borrow that same image, i would say that some countries ’ beds have remained in the bedroom far too long. yet europe is also experiencing rapid and major innovations – and that is bound to continue. bis central bankers ’ speeches 4. target - based management : the bundesbank ’ s response to the pressure to change in view of this situation, the bundesbank views target - based management as a vital tool. of course, the bundesbank is not a private business. it isn ’ t listed on the stock exchange, and its main “ customers ” are the general public, who benefit from a stable currency, a secure cash supply and payment systems which function smoothly. target - based management ensures that the bank is managed with results in mind. the focus here is on an effective and efficient use of resources. this is not only important for the bundesbank, but probably for all public authorities. ultimately, target - based management contributes to the objective of sound budgetary management, and this is also of significance at the macroeconomic level. after all, sound public finances are an essential precondition for sustainable economic growth and not a danger to it, as some commentators in the discussions on the euro area crisis – which is still far from over – would have us believe. at the bundesbank, target - based management is implemented by a cutting - edge controlling department. this team of employees is responsible for the two important and intertwined building blocks of “ strategic planning ” and “ operational planning ”, for which the bank adopted its first strategic plan in 2002 and its third in 2012. the strategy acts as an important roadmap, both within the bank and externally. it provides clarity, which i already touched upon when talking about the “ wholesaler ” business model for cash processing. and, what ’ s more, the strategy allows us to hold our own in the european “ competition for ideas ”, which i have also already mentioned. ultimately, the strategy provides a framework for assigning resources to individual areas of responsibility and deciding which projects and

joachim wuermeling : current challenges in europe – a central banker ’ s perspective speech by prof joachim wuermeling, member of the executive board of the deutsche bundesbank, at the money marketeers of new york university, new york city, 29 march 2018. * * * 1 introduction ladies and gentlemen thank you very much for inviting me to speak to you here on wall street – any self - respecting central banker would jump at the chance to greet an audience on the world ’ s most renowned street of money and finance at least once during their career! i was fascinated to learn that wall street got its name from a protective wall built back in the 17th century, and that the new york stock exchange was founded there in the late 18th century. it ’ s remarkable that a protective wall has come to be synonymous with an open global financial centre where people from all over the world meet and do business together. despite its name, wall street has never benefited from walls. quite the opposite, in fact : it has profited from tearing down walls, from eliminating tax barricades and trade barriers. there are three topics i would like to emphasise in my speech today that all have something to do with walls : first, i would like to offer an outlook on the current political situation in germany and europe. as you all know, germany benefited tremendously – almost 30 years ago now – from a certain wall being torn down, with the help of our european and american friends. second, i would like to touch upon monetary policy and economic developments in the euro area, and i am sure that the ecb ’ s decisions on monetary policy that might be in the pipeline will have an effect on wall street. third, i would like to share a few thoughts on free trade, and on the difficulties and risks posed by walls and barriers in our globalised economies. 2 current political situation in germany and europe looking at what the media say about europe these days, you might be forgiven for thinking that the “ old continent ” is hurtling towards chaos. a headline of the new york times springs to mind, which read : “ chaos in catalonia ”. the huffington post wrote about the “ brexit chaos ”. and the washington post fears that the eu might even cease to exist : “ what the e. u. must confront if it wants to survive ”. let me assure you : the future of europe is not really on the rocks, despite what these headlines might suggest. it is