to issues that resonate with people and not just financial markets. nor can we rely on ‘ old intermediaries ’ alone. traditional communication channels are disappearing so we must navigate new channels effectively between central banks and the wider public to allow different narratives to emerge. adapting to new channels, new platforms, new ways to target our communications and deliver our messages. 23 some questions for today demands for greater trust, transparency, accountability, legitimacy, and rebuilding of social capital all come at a time of rapid change. technological change is disrupting the landscape of financial services, with new entrants, new business models, a race by incumbents to invest in developing the necessary capabilities, and in many cases the potential for a fundamental disruption in the value chain of traditional financial services firms and sectors. this has impacted different sectors such as the retail banking sector, payment and e - money firms as well as new emerging areas such as crypto. the ecb ’ s own ‘ digital euro ’ project is a recognition of this changing landscape, and what it might mean for money, for central banks themselves and for citizens. 24 at the same time the mandates of central banks have increased significantly. in the euro area most national central banks are also competent authorities for the supervision of banks, and also resolution authorities. moreover, and taking the central bank of ireland as an example, we are the competent authority for the funds sector, the insurance sector, and the national macroprudential authority. we also play an important role in the state ’ s framework for consumer protection and exercise enforcement powers. the broadening of our mandate beyond monetary and financial stability – and giving us responsibilities which more directly and closely interact with the lives of the public – places a greater onus on us to build social capital, not least at a time of significant change. this is relevant to a number of issues that we are considering today. social capital is stronger when institutions respond to, or even lead, key issues of the day. aiming to simply preserve institutions can lead to weakening them. while all institutions need to change, we must make sure expectations on institutions are not misaligned, as this would lead to an erosion of social capital. some of the key issues highlighted for today ’ s discussion include the distribution of income and climate change. i will not get into the data on inequality or the risks from climate change. i think these are well known. i would however like to discuss the role of central banks. intergenerational economics :

be determined by the governing council ’ s commitment to stabilise inflation at two per cent over the medium term. price stability is the best contribution central banks can make to ensuring stability for the ‘ welfare of the people as a whole ’. like king afonso ’ s leais, we need to be loyal to this objective. and like weaving a kuba cloth, we must constantly build and rebuild social capital to achieve this. to paraphrase jose saramago – who once wrote that the history of portugal was not that of europe but that the history of europe would be unimaginable without that of portugal32 – the history of central banks is not that of social capital but strong social capital would be difficult to deliver without successful central banks. i look forward to the discussion. obrigado. i would like to thank micheal o ’ keeffe for his contribution to my remarks. 2halpern, d., 2005. social capital. polity. 3makhlouf, gabriel. social capital and the living standards framework. address to university of auckland ( 27 march 2018 ). 4dasgupta, p., 2005. the economics of social capital. 5see the sveriges riksbank website for further detail. 6see the bank of england website for further detail. 7see the museu do dinheiro website for further detail. bordo, m., 2007. a brief history of central banks. economic commentary, ( december 2007 ). 9ibid. 10ibid. 11central bank act, 1942. 12douglass, c., 1991. douglass c. north. the journal of economic perspectives, 5 ( 1 ), pp. 97 - 112. haldane, andrew. why institutions matter ( more than ever ). address to the centre for research on socio - cultural change ( cresc ) annual conference, school of oriental and africa studies ( 4 september 2013 ). 14see the museu do dinheiro website for further detail. 15haldane, andrew. why institutions matter ( more than ever ). address to the centre for research on socio - cultural change ( cresc ) annual conference, school of oriental and africa studies ( 4 september 2013 ). 16algan, y., 2018. trust and social capital. for good measure : advancing research on well - being metrics beyond gdp, pp. 283 - 320. 17arrow, k.