. today ’ s central bankers have their finger on the pulse – “ action ” is guaranteed. central banker education has therefore long played an important role in europe. in the european system of central banks, the escb, a special training and development task force was set up to organise seminars throughout europe. its main focus is on introductory seminars to the escb as well as leadership and soft skill training. the work is shared between the european central bank and the national central banks but it is quite common for courses initially conceived by and for a specific central bank to be later “ opened up ” to other central banks. however, the typical scenario is a training course that is designed as a joint project by the national central banks together and then provided to all. the creation of a european central banking system itself gave rise to completely new aspects, also for training : since then the aim has been to network and multiply knowledge throughout europe. the idea is to develop a common understanding of ( monetary ) policy processes to a joint culture. but that ’ s not all : for more than 20 years now, in its technical central bank cooperation programme, the bundesbank has also been providing a wide range of tailor - made international seminars for central banks in transition, emerging and developing countries on request. the main focus of these seminars is on exchanging knowledge and experience with partner central banks that request such services. the interest in these services is still high. to celebrate twenty years of central bank cooperation, last month we held a conference in our convention centre in eltville am rhein attended by central bankers from over 40 countries. to quote mark twain, “ a little education makes the whole world related ”. the escb regularly uses our convention centre in eltville to host conferences and events on the topic of education. the centre ’ s location in the rheingau valley, with the river rhine, vineyards, ruins and castles is ideal, as this is the image of germany that we would like to project. on balance, bundesbank spends a lot of money for education and their training establishments. so we act according to the statement of john f. kennedy who once said : “ there is only one thing that costs more than education in the long run – the lack of it ”. but which approach is the deutsche bundesbank currently taking with its cooperation with the business schools that feature on today ’ s agenda? the answer is simple : we want to promote central banker education. by using external experts and combining

rudolf bohmler : central banker education and financial stability welcome address by dr hc rudolf bohmler, member of the executive board of the deutsche bundesbank, at the education congress as part of the 13th euro finance week, frankfurt am main, 17 november 2010. * * * mr gierenstein, professor hackethal ( gbs ), professor tilmes ( ebs ), professor steffens ( fsfm ), bundesbank colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, i am delighted to be able to welcome so many of you here today. on the bundesbank ’ s executive board, one of my areas of responsibility is human resources – including the training. our training centre covers further education, the bundesbank ’ s university of applied sciences in hachenburg and the centre for technical central bank cooperation. having previously held the post of director general of the baden - wurttemberg ministry of science, research and art, today ’ s topic “ education ” is at last very well - known to me. inviting a member of the bundesbank ’ s executive board to hold a speech usually is risky business. the stern magazine once wrote : “ bundesbank executive board members are boring. they talk of interest rates and monetary aggregates from each and every angle, lulling their audience into a deep sleep. ” but today i will be speaking about education and thereby avoid giving you any chance for dozing. today ’ s conference on “ central banker education and financial stability ” is making its debut appearance in the euro finance week. it is the first time that the topic of education has featured so prominently in the financial market stability arena. i am sure you all agree that both the financial market crisis and the special role of central banks across the globe in resolving the crisis and containing its effects are justification enough for this decision. however, i will briefly come back to this point later on. education has long been an integral part of how financial centres tick and of their competitive environment. the focus is traditionally often on research and higher education. in the past, further education, that is the transfer of sound knowledge to practitioners, has been somewhat neglected ; but now – thanks not least to business school initiatives – it is starting to catch up in ever greater leaps and bounds. today ’ s programme is dedicated to central banker education. this morning ’ s agenda features presentations by speakers from the goethe business school ’ s house of finance on the topic of “ leadership challenges for central bankers – an academic perspective