jens weidmann : a long - term regulatory framework for the euro area speech by dr jens weidmann, president of the deutsche bundesbank, at the economic conference ( wirtschaftstag ) of the economic council of the christian democratic union ( wirtschaftsrat der cdu e. v. ), berlin, 3 july 2014. * 1. * * welcome professor lauk, ladies and gentlemen i am delighted to be here at this year ’ s economic conference and would like to thank the economic council of the cdu for their invitation. the crisis has thrust monetary policy into the spotlight. the fact that not one, but two monetary policymakers have been invited to today ’ s event reflects the growing importance attached to monetary policy. monetary policymakers nowadays are sometimes cast as superheroes. some are dubbed “ rock stars ”, others hailed as “ alchemists ”, and there has even been mention of “ new masters of the universe ”. others, meanwhile, want to abolish central banking as a public institution altogether given their mistrust of what they see as an overabundance of power, supporting instead competition between private currencies. an op - ed piece in the austrian newspaper die presse once put forward the view that monetary policy was “ a kind of soap opera – and a boring one at that. at least it was for the occasional viewer ”. on the other hand, the writer went on to say, monetary policy was “ probably the world ’ s most important soap opera ”. after all, it decided “ the fate of the world economy ”. wikipedia defines soap operas as serial dramas in which the protagonists are usually in constant interaction with each other. and that is undoubtedly true for monetary policy – protagonists in the world of european monetary policymaking get together once a fortnight, most recently earlier today in the ecb governing council, as well as at many other joint occasions. according to wikipedia, other typical features of soaps are their trivial storylines, the fact that the protagonists are often more important than the events themselves, and that the roles offer sufficient potential for conflict. judging by what the media says sometimes, it ’ s easy to think that things are much the same in the world of monetary policy. but i don ’ t see myself as a protagonist in a soap opera, and i think my colleagues would certainly agree with me that monetary policy isn ’ t designed to offer shallow entertainment. its job is to safeguard price stability –

success of this venture. in closing, i wish to thank all those who have helped us in getting to where we are today, and seek your continued assistance as we traverse this very difficult terrain. in this regard, i wish to make special mention of the stock exchange technical committee ( setc ) first initiative, the commonwealth secretariat, the west african institute for financial and economic management, the team of local lawyers headed by mr eke halloway, as well as market practitioners in neighbouring countries who have been unrelenting in sharing their experiences and expertise with us. naming people in these situations can be invidious, but let me crave your indulgence to mention mr maroof matin, the resident consultant provided by first initiative, mr jacob kanu of first discount house, mr melvin tucker, former deputy governor and other members of the stock exchange technical committee. to all of these, i say thank you very much and please let us continue to work together for a more prosperous sierra leone. thank you for your attention.