% or so a year ( charts 3 and 4 ). we ’ ve seen the same broad stability, in both trade and prices, in the years since the financial crisis, during which global trade growth has also slowed. but the years in between saw a marked rise in import penetration and very rapid declines in real uk clothes prices, particularly over the second half of that period. tariffs began to fall in the 1950s, container ships, which materially reduced shipping costs, were first developed later that decade, and the first regional trade agreements ( notably the eec ) were made in the 1960s. all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / speeches chart 3 : import penetration started growing in chart 4 : real uk clothes prices fell steeply 1970s, rose strongly in 90s, stable post - crisis between mid - 1970s and the crisis clothing and textile imports, % of consumption 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 source : ons and un comtrade database source : ons cumulatively, those declines were pretty spectacular. even in nominal terms, clothes in the uk were on average cheaper in 2008 than they had been in 1975 ( chart 5 ). that ’ s quite something given the general rate of inflation in the 1970s and 80s. in real terms – relative to the rest of the consumer basket – they fell by over 80 %. this has brought significant benefits for consumers. it ’ s hard to say what would ’ ve happened in the absence of globalisation. but let ’ s suppose that, in that event, real clothes prices would have continued to fall at the 1 % - or - so pace we saw prior to the mid - 1970s ( and since 2008 ). by comparison the actual decline in prices over the past 40 years has added just over 3 % to real household incomes. at the same time the domestic production sector has clearly suffered ( chart 6 ). it didn ’ t start in a great position, it should be said. in 1975 it was a comparatively unproductive industry : per capita value added was 30 % below the uk average. it required and employed relatively low - skilled labour : the average full - time wage was £1, 730 a year – barely £5 per hour in today ’ s money and over a third lower than in the rest of the economy. even then the country was buying more clothes than it produced : the balance of trade in clothing and textiles was already in deficit. ricardo may have chosen british cloth as his quintessen

christian noyer : evolution of the regulation in europe and in the united states – convergence or divergence? keynote address by mr christian noyer, governor of the bank of france and chairman of the board of directors of the bank for international settlements, to the paris - europlace financial forum, new york, 18 april 2011. * * * strengthening financial regulation has been high on the agenda of the g20 since pittsburgh in october 2008. much has already been achieved both at the international level especially through the basel committee for banking supervision but also on national level with the dodd - frank act in the us and the pending regulation for market infrastructures in the european union. it is fair to say that the evolution of the regulation in europe and in the united states has not always followed the same path in the past. at a time when our regulations are completely revisited and when many restructurations are taking place in the finance industry, rigorous consistency on both sides of the atlantic is clearly needed if we want to avoid regulatory arbitrages and uneven level playing field which would be the seeds for inefficiencies and future disappointments. in my remarks today, i will briefly discuss the achievements on reforms of financial regulation. then i will highlight some existing discrepancies between european and us regulatory frameworks that should be addressed. i. regarding achievements in financial regulation : what has been completed so far? three main issues warrant specific attention : – first, at the g20 level, the reform on otc derivatives ; – second, the basel committee work for banks ( basel 3 ) ; – and third, the accounting reforms by the iasb and the fasb. 1. 1 one of the most visible regulatory changes is the reform to address weakness in otc derivatives markets although they were not at the origin of the crisis, they certainly and conspicuously aggravated systemic stresses in a weakened global financial system. the forthcoming european market infrastructure regulation – commonly called “ emir ” – as well as the dodd frank act is both of paramount importance in order to fulfill the pittsburgh ’ s commitments made by g - 20 leaders. i see as particularly important the increase in transparency, the prevention of systemic risk, the promotion of financial stability. in order to meet these objectives, both regulations do introduce mandatory reporting of derivative transactions to trade repositories as well as mandatory clearing for eligible standardized transactions. both regulations do take into account the fact that a mandatory clearing obligation may also increase the systemic importance of clearing houses