of the debate on impediments to more balanced growth. this is not to say that the necessary global adjustment process will not have repercussions on surplus countries like germany. but these processes – which are currently going on to a significant extent ( germany alone will nearly halve its net exports by roughly 80 bn euros ) – should also remain market - driven. fine tuning regional demand with pre - crisis global growth rates as a benchmark will not prove successful in my view. from a political economy perspective, it seems that the debate about reigning in imbalances through more surveillance and policy coordination risks drawing political commitment away from the efforts to reform financial markets i have just outlined. if this were to happen, we would have cause to be truly concerned. imminent challenges : exit from the rescue measures finally, i would like to make a few comments on the question of exit strategies. given the macroeconomic outlook, there is surely no need to rush for the exit at the current juncture. however, to stabilise expectations and to safeguard public confidence it is essential to develop a credible exit framework now. the challenge in terms of communications will be to make clear the difference between developing and implementing an exit framework. as a central banker, i would like to stress first that maintaining price stability has always been and will continue to be the primary objective of monetary policy in the eurosystem. hence, the monetary policy stance is determined by risks to price stability, which are fortunately currently not present at the policy relevant time horizon. our non - standard instruments allow a flexible exit which takes into account any remaining fragility on financial markets, if needed. therefore, i am fairly confident that monetary policy in the euro area will manage an orderly exit. given the enormous rise in public deficits and the strain this will put on future budgets, the fiscal exit strategy will have to kick in as soon as the recovery has firmed up, which means no later than 2011. reigning in deficits will require significant improvements in the structural balance ratio. within the european monetary union, the stability and growth pact will play an essential role in guiding fiscal consolidation. and even after correcting excessive deficits, rapid consolidation will have to continue to reach medium - term budgetary objectives and to substantially reduce debt ratios from their earlier extraordinarily high levels. we must not forget that early and decisive consolidation is not an end in itself : it will help to restore and maintain confidence in financial markets, recreate fiscal room for

this increased emphasis reflects changes both in financial markets and in the consumer population. the number of financial products and financial service providers has grown dramatically. a widening array of financial choices offers the potential for great benefits to the public, but also poses temptations. more and more people are gaining access to credit ; indeed, a host of lenders is probably inundating them with solicitations. the public can also select from a wide variety of savings vehicles, each with its special features. ideally, the result of this increase in choice is lower costs and products that more closely match consumer needs. but some consumers are not prepared to confront this array of choices. they lack the financial knowledge to evaluate the alternatives and to see future consequences. they may be too trusting of lenders that present a friendly face and promise quick and easy access to funds, and too suspicious of those that are more deliberative but offer much better deals. newcomers to this country and populations who were previously denied access to credit markets particularly need assistance in coping with the increasingly complex financial system. the federal reserve system recently launched a financial literacy campaign that includes a public - service announcement by chairman greenspan. we have developed a personal financial education web site that contains links to a large number of national, state, and local consumer education resources. on that site one can find information on such topics as on - line banking, how to http : / / www. federalreserveeducation. org / fined / index. cfm. buy a home, and accessing credit reports. individual reserve banks have also developed complementary web sites that include resources specific to their districts. the federal reserve bank of boston ’ s video and booklet on identity theft are among the highlights of the system ’ s financial education offerings. the booklet, in particular, is a best seller. the new england economic adventure continues this rich tradition and also breaks new ground. the adventure, together with the auxiliary lessons and web materials, teaches important economic principles. in particular, it emphasizes the central role of productivity growth in raising standards of living and illustrates what goes into such growth. this is an especially timely lesson right now. as you may know, over most of the past ten years u. s. productivity growth has been about double that of the previous twenty years. over the long term, productivity growth is the key to economic advancement. by way of illustration, the pickup in productivity growth from an average of just under 1 - 1 / 2 percent from 1973 to