many analysts to have reached the “ lewis turning point ” where demographic pressures are offset by increased demand for ( at least ) qualified labor. nevertheless, the process will likely be very gradual. as for advanced economies, biased technical progress and pressures from the emerging world as well as unemployment may work to constrain wage dynamics. a general sense of economic insecurity will lead to increase in savings. in most countries and especially in europe there is an urgent need for strong fiscal consolidation. market discipline will act powerfully to impose strong consolidation of public finance over an extended period of time. therefore, it is a valid question to ask : where will growth in world demand come from in the future? this may sound paradoxical. in most of the emerging world, demand seems to be booming, and, for many analysts future economic growth will be primarily constrained by the scarcity of natural resources and environmental pressures. these are real and unprecedented and they call for a new technological revolution. i am optimistic. history has taught us that malthus and its intellectual descendants have always been proven wrong. the whole process of economic growth was borne out of the ability of mankind to overcome scarcity through human inventiveness and technical progress. it won ’ t be different this time. i am also very optimistic in the long run on the fundamental rebalancing of the world economy. income per capita levels in the emerging world will progressively converge to those of the advanced economies and this will present gigantic market opportunities for producers in those countries. at the same time, tensions and insecurity created by differences in income and productivity levels will abate and disappear. the transition process, however, may be bumpy. unavoidably, advanced economies, especially in europe, will have to adjust to the permanent shift in world comparative advantages. they will have to increase flexibility and, above all, develop and preserve their most precious resource – human capital – through education and excellence in research. emerging economies will have to face the dual challenge of aging and reducing inequalities. during that transition period, which may last several decades, it is important that the whole process is not derailed by shocks and crisis borne out of imbalances in the world economy. this is where the twin questions – ( 1 ) of the level and distribution of global demand and ( 2 ) the level and allocation of world savings – may matter most. inside the g20, there is broad agreement on the need to rebalance aggregate demand. that

000 late responses per year ; – explain to vses why their loan application has been rejected ; – in the event of the rejection or cancellation of a facility, inform the client of all the options available for recourse ; – provide better information on short - term financing ; – reduce the turnover of vse financial advisers. i would also like to highlight the valuable contribution of the fbf in producing an explanatory guide on vse financing. a lot of entrepreneurs need to learn and understand the basics of finance. the misunderstanding between bankers and businesses often stems from the fact that they don ’ t speak the same language : this makes it harder for vses to establish a close working relationship with their bank managers and financial advisers. in addition, the banque de france and the high council of the french institute of chartered accountants have worked together to produce a financial guide for vses entitled guide du routard du credit. i would also like to single out the efforts made by the observatory for business financing, which has put together a forthcoming glossary on loan pricing. all of this is extremely useful, but these documents also need to be widely publicised and made available, and this task falls first and foremost to the banks. this should in turn encourage them to make their bank fees and charges more transparent and explicit. 2 ) turning now to the banque de france, we clearly need to provide more help to vses before they get into difficulty. credit mediation is a very effective tool for resolving vses financial problems after the fact, and indeed these make up the majority of cases submitted to the mediator. however, it is also important – especially so in my view – that we provide help before this stage, and prevent vses from getting into trouble in the first place. we have therefore decided that, in addition to the legal and operational assistance provided via credit mediation, the banque de france will contribute to this preventive action by appointing a vse correspondent in each of its departement branches. the role of these correspondents will be to act as a first point of contact for vses and listen to their concerns in the capacity of a trusted third - party. they will be responsible for providing information – including the documents i ’ ve just mentioned – and for broadly identifying the vses ’ needs. if necessary, and of course only if the vses themselves are in agreement, they will also direct them towards the relevant professional networks which can provide appropriate support : approved management centres,