well communicated and understood. if we are unsuccessful in this respect, our reputation may be impaired. independence, transparency and good decisions are intertwined. independence is a precondition for keeping promises. keeping promises was the topic of my lecture here two years ago. 38 we must also communicate and explain interest rate decisions to the public so that they have confidence that we are discharging our duties properly. transparency is a precondition for accountability and that was the topic of my lecture here last year. 39 today i have been speaking about how we can arrive at decisions that are good ones. adequate institutional arrangements, high - quality professionals and appropriate routines are important elements for doing just that. hans rasmus astrup died in 1898, twelve years after this building was completed. astrup ’ s two daughters sold the house to the norwegian academy of science and letters a few years after their father ’ s passing. they gave the academy a gift of 106, 000 kroner to go towards buying the house. the remaining funds were raised from donations. 40 was the decision to build this stately residence a good one? yes, given the outcome, it must be said to have been a very good decision indeed. ever since astrup ’ s time, drammensveien 78 has been a venue for interdisciplinary discussions. the benefits of learning across disciplines are well illustrated by the success of olympiatoppen. olympiatoppen serves as a venue for different sports. where coaches and leaders have traditionally focused on international developments in their own disciplines, olympiatoppen also gives them an opportunity to learn from one another ’ s experiences, across disciplines. many believe that this is part of the reason for norway ’ s numerous olympic medals in recent decades. 41 see norges bank occasional paper no. 39 ( 2009 ). the lecture “ on transparency ”, the commentaries by inge lorange backer, andreas føllesdal and bernt aardal and aanund hylland ’ s summary of the debate are published in norges bank occasional paper no. 41 ( 2010 ). see helsvig ( 2007 ), pp. 19 – 20. see the article “ særnorsk oppskrift for ol - gull ” [ uniquely norwegian recipe for olympic gold ], 10 february 2010, available at ( in norwegian ). for 150 years the norwegian academy of science and letters, by fostering contact across academic disciplines, has functioned as a kind

the fund contribute to both curbing the appreciation of the krone and maintaining its stability. at the end of 2005, the market value of the pension fund ’ s portfolio was roughly 73 per cent of gdp. as shown in the chart, the value of the fund is rising rapidly and may continue to do so in the years ahead. the fund is now approaching the nominal value of one year ’ s gdp and may reach two in the course of the next decade. on the other hand, norway, like many other countries, is facing substantial fiscal challenges. financing the large pension payments that will have to be disbursed in the coming years will be very demanding. final remarks to sum up, norway has a market economy and a large government sector. the way in which economic policy is oriented today reflects the knowledge gained and the lessons learned. we know from experience that fiscal policy alone cannot ensure a high level of employment. the structure of the labour market and wage formation are probably of greater importance. the direct regulation of credit, interest rates and capital movements collapsed and was phased out in the 1980s. price regulation no longer plays a role as a macroeconomic instrument. the scope of business policy has become more general. the most important contribution monetary policy can make to sound economic developments in the long term is low and stable inflation. low and stable inflation has contributed to solid growth in the global economy in recent years. thank you for your attention.