that in 2012, india ranked 132 among 183 nations in terms of overall ease of doing business indicators as per a world bank study. although we have given a gobye to the socalled “ licence - permit raj ”, the study finds that in terms of procedures to start a business and get all the permissions needed for a business to start india ranked 166th. this clearly indicates that we need to focus on the 7l deficits – land, linkages, labour, legal, liquidity, leadership and learning deficits – for boosting the investment climate for both domestic and foreign investors. finally, i believe each one of us can play a part in the globally turbulent and domestically challenging times by drawing inspiration from a prayer from the american theologian and public affairs commentator reinhold neibuhr who very aptly said : god give us grace to accept with serenity things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. thank you once again for giving me this opportunity. bis central bankers ’ speeches

students do not provide an equally positive picture. a report from the norwegian mathematics council shows that the level of mathematical skills among new university students has declined markedly in recent years. 11 even the top performing students score considerably lower than earlier. this is illustrated here as the percentage of correct answers in arithmetic and percent calculation, but we find similar scores for other mathematical skills. norway is taking an economic risk in allowing the skills level to decline. but – to take a brighter view of this : we have after all experienced that negative trends can be reversed in very important areas of society. our most important resource is our labour force. the employment rate is high in norway. this is because many wish to participate in working life, and the vast majority find a job. however, the norwegian labour market also has its weak points. the annual number of person - years worked is lower in norway than in the us and the rest of europe. both in norway and the rest of europe, the fall in the number of working hours is ascribable to longer holidays and shorter working days. the standard working year is short in norway, but on the other hand norway also has a higher percentage of part - time employees than other countries. access to these working hour arrangements has made it easier for women and young workers to enter the labour market. see for example oecd ( 2006 ) : economic policy reforms : going for growth ; bart van ark ( 2005 ) : “ europe ’ s productivity gap : catching up or getting stuck ” ; and christine cumming : panel remarks in a symposium on productivity, competitiveness and globalization, banque de france, paris, november 4, 2005. see for example cumming ( 2005 ) and van ark ( 2005 ), op. cit. european commission ( 2005 ) : special eurobarometer 224, europeans, science and technology, june 2005. source : telemark university college : norwegian mathematics council ’ s autumn 2003 survey among new students, february 2004. the income level in norway has increased. many may prefer to take advantage of this by increasing their leisure time in the form of shorter working days or longer holidays. and this has in fact taken place. moreover, the retirement age is steadily declining. the expected retirement age is now below 60, when disability pensioners are taken into account. at the same time, life expectancy has increased, and leisure time accounts for an increasing share of our lives. the large post - war cohorts will only reach ordinary retirement