##ies of their day – such as the liquidationist doctrine of mellon and others, or the rigid adherence to the variant of the gold standard adopted after world war i. a key turning point, in the united states, came with franklin roosevelt ’ s commitment to bold experimentation after his inauguration in 1933. some of his experiments failed or were counterproductive, but his decisions to declare a bank holiday upon taking office in march 1933 and to sever the link between the dollar and gold helped arrest the descent of the u. s. financial system and set off a strong, albeit incomplete, recovery. in the depression, effective policy responses came only after three to four years of financial crisis and economic contraction. in our own time, policymakers acted sooner and with greater force than in the 1930s. for example, in october 2008, just weeks after the sharp intensification of the crisis, the congress authorized the troubled asset relief program ( tarp ) to support stabilization of the financial system. it was far from perfect legislation, but it was essential for preventing an imminent financial collapse. for its part, the federal open market committee, the monetary policymaking arm of the federal reserve, sharply and proactively cut its target for short - term interest rates from the fall of 2007 through 2008. after the target could go no lower, the committee embarked on an unprecedented ( for the united states ) program of long - term securities purchases, recently completed, to support private credit markets, including the mortgage market. also, in the spring of 2009, the federal reserve led the supervisory capital assessment program, known as the bank stress test. 3 in some ways, its effect was similar to roosevelt ’ s national bank holiday. during the holiday in 1933, banks temporarily shut their doors. examiners were dispatched to evaluate them, and banks that were declared sound reopened to renewed depositor confidence. in the 2009 stress tests, multidisciplinary teams of examiners, economists, financial experts, and other specialists calculated how much capital 19 of the nation ’ s largest bank holding companies would need to remain healthy and continue lending during a hypothetical worse - than - expected economic scenario. the treasury department committed to supplying additional capital as necessary from the tarp. see ben s. bernanke and harold james ( 1991 ), “ the gold standard, deflation, and financial crisis in the great depression : an international comparison, ” in r. glenn hubbard, financial markets and financial crises ( chicago : university of chicago press for n

ardian fullani : economic developments during the second semester of 2004 and expectations for year 2005 statement by mr ardian fullani, governor of the bank of albania, tirana, 28 january 2005. * * * the second part of 2004 has generated a larger economic activity, marking a certain general impulse, especially after a relatively quiet start of the year. the acceleration of production growth is reflected almost in all the economy sectors, while the major objectives of the economy have been achieved in conformity with the overall programme of the country's economic and financial development. at international level, this semester coincided with an acceleration of the confirmed tendencies in the first part of the year, especially with regard to us dollar performance and oil price rise. the fed monetary policy has changed the monetary policy tendency, during this period, through some successive increases of the core interest rate, in attempting to prevent the inflationary pressures in the economy. on the other side, the european central bank, considering the inflation performance and the strong pressure against the euro has deemed unreasonable to change the core interest rate, keeping it at the level of 2 percent for almost a year and half. annual inflation in december resulted 2. 2 percent, while the average annual inflation was only 2. 9 percent. the maintenance of inflation within the targeted range was mainly attributed to the stable macroeconomic situation, the control of domestic demand of the economy and monetary indicators stability. year 2004 was characterized by the achievement of fiscal objectives in terms of budget expenditures and budget deficit, and also by a more uniform allocation of fiscal expenditures. government demand for loans has been distinguished by a rising level during the second semester, however remaining within the projected levels. also, the annual rate of the change of current budget expenditures was stable. the implementation of a prudential fiscal policy has provided the appropriate conditions to better control inflation rate. during the second half of 2004, the bank of albania monetary policy has kept an easing tendency, aiming above all at reducing the borrowing cost in the economy. bank of albania has twice cut the core interest rate, in july and november, by 0. 25 percentage points. these cuts have brought the core interest rate to the lowest historical rate, by 5. 25 percent. the banking system was characterized by an accelerated lending activity to the economy during 2004. the credit balance increased by lek 9. 2 billion during june - november 2004, being 51 percent higher than the balance growth in the first semester of the year. lending to the economy is given an ever