what economists do ”. by presenting a review of what this may mean at university, in government, in business and in central banking, i hope i was able to support your motivation for your study of economics. listening to my talk, you might have noted that the real issue is not so much what an economist does as how she or he does it. after having been an economist for more than three decades myself i have never regretted having chosen economics as my profession. you are young, and you presently face one of those crossroads that inevitably shape a life. the future is full of surprises. i wish you the necessary enthusiasm and strength without which professional and personal development is hardly achievable. - remember my quote from goethe. it is mephisto who says : “ grey is all theory and green the golden tree of life. ” good luck to you all! duchatczek, wolfgang, schubert, aurel, “ the art of central banking requires more than just intuition ”, paper to be found at www. ecb. int / events / pdf / conferences / eastats / duchatczek. pdf.

rasheed m al - maraj : islamic finance amid the global financial turmoil address by he rasheed m al - maraj, governor of the central bank of bahrain, at the islamic finance symposium “ islamic finance amid the global financial turmoil – its implication for japan ”, tokyo, 11 november 2009. * * * ladies and gentlemen : it is a pleasure to be with you here today and to have the opportunity to participate in this important and timely symposium on the subject of “ islamic finance amid the global financial turmoil – its implication for japan. ” the symposium is timely because, in the wake of the global financial crisis, there has been a great upsurge in interest in the principles of islamic finance and the opportunities that the industry presents both inside and outside the muslim world. many industry participants, regulators, and policy - makers have begun to ask whether there are lessons to be learnt from the principles of islamic finance which might help avoid future crises. at the same time, there has been growing recognition that islamic finance offers a variety of financing structures that are viable alternatives to conventional finance. issuers and investors have begun to explore these opportunities in a serious way. while obviously the greatest upsurge of interest in islamic finance has been within muslim majority countries, and within those non - muslim countries with significant muslim populations ( such as the uk ), there is still plenty of scope for you here in japan to consider the potential of islamic finance. this is what makes this symposium so significant. let me begin with briefly outlining the main principles of islamic finance and its potential relevance to japanese financial institutions. i will then turn to give some background on bahrain ’ s role in developing islamic finance and on the part played by the central bank of bahrain ( cbb ) in particular. the basic principle behind islamic finance can be stated quite simply. the operations of islamic financial institutions are primarily based on a profit and loss sharing principle. an islamic bank does not charge interest but rather participates in the yield resulting from the use of the funds. its account holders also share in the profits of the bank according to a predetermined ratio. there is thus a partnership between the islamic bank and its account holders, on the one side, and between the bank and its investment clients, on the other. this is in contrast with a conventional bank, which mainly borrows funds paying interest on one side of the balance sheet, and lends funds charging interest, on the other. to avoid using the interest rate instrument islamic financial institutions