that capital flows have again become highly volatile based on daily data. there are several event studies which show that asset purchases by the federal reserve and the bank of england weakened their domestic currencies. see the following references : bauer, m. and c. neely ( 2013 ) : “ international channels of the fed ’ s unconventional monetary policy ”, federal reserve bank of san francisco, working paper 2012 - 12. glick, r. and s. leduc ( 2013 ) : “ the effects of unconventional and conventional u. s. monetary policy on the dollar ”, federal reserve bank of san francisco, working paper 2013 - 11. neely, c. ( 2010 ) : “ the large - scale asset purchases had large international effects ”, federal reserve bank of st. louis, working paper 2010 - 018c. bis central bankers ’ speeches because asset purchase programs are expected to be scaled back, thereby unleashing a new round of currency tensions. against the background of currency fluctuations and weak global demand, the problem of global imbalances still lingers. in the debate on global adjustment, there have also been calls for countries with a current account surplus to let their currencies appreciate. for some observers, this includes switzerland. our country ’ s large current account surplus – so the argument goes – is a sure sign that the swiss franc is too weak. the snb should therefore abolish the minimum exchange rate and allow the swiss franc to appreciate further. this in turn would allow the current account surplus to diminish, thereby contributing to global rebalancing. 3 i would like to point out that such a critique is not based on a full understanding of switzerland ’ s situation. for a comprehensive assessment of the swiss current account and the swiss franc, the following factors also need to be considered. first, large exchange rate appreciations have not resulted in external adjustment of the swiss current account. instead, key components of the swiss current account are determined by structural factors that behave independently of the exchange rate. second, there are good and legitimate reasons for countries to have current account deficits and surpluses to smooth their output and consumption. and third, independent central banks need to fulfill their mandate of price stability in an inter - dependent environment that constrains their policy choices. more specifically, the snb has had to – and still has to – ensure that monetary conditions do not become restrictive for switzerland in the face of extreme exchange rate appreciation and def

jean - pierre roth : once a student, always a student summary of a speech by mr jean - pierre roth, chairman of the governing board of the swiss national bank, at the university of bern, switzerland, 9 february 2006. the complete speech can be found in german on the swiss national banka€™s website ( www. snb. ch ). * * * like all decisions relating to the future, monetary policy decisions involve numerous uncertainties. economic researchers are divided as regards both the effects of monetary policy and the form that this policy should take. there are a number of competing models in economic theory, and their policy recommendations often vary. relationships that have been stable in the past may change at any time, due to the fact that the structural equations used in economic models are not based on the laws of nature. the swiss national bank's monetary policy concept takes account of these uncertainties. our inflation forecast is a key element in this concept and combines the results obtained by a variety of different models. research is extremely important in our changing world. we can only be sure of identifying new developments as early as possible and basing our monetary policy decisions on a solid foundation if we engage in constant research.