in the last decade. in fact, the foreign exchange regime adopted by the romanian authorities, namely a flexible exchange rate requiring far lesser interventions in the forex market by the central bank, bolstered the national economy. even the over - appreciation episode in early 2007, generated by massive capital inflows following romania ’ s accession to the eu, was corrected via autonomous forex market movements. we may state that, at present, there are no significant pressure - inducing factors in relation to the exchange rate in terms of appreciation or depreciation, despite the temporary two way movements caused by global financial market turmoil. however, the foreign exchange market has come into balance in the context of a policy mix featuring a restrictive monetary policy, with high interest rates, an insufficiently tight fiscal policy, subject to further pressures to increase public spending, concurrently with the drop in incomes, whereas pay rises have been in excess of productivity gains for a long time. this policy mix is unsustainable. one could hardly speak about long - run forex market equilibrium, even though in the nearer term, high interest rates may offset the effects of other policies. nonetheless, it is clear that exchange rate stability in the context of worsening competitiveness of the romanian products, following the increase in wages faster than that in productivity, leads inevitably to widening trade deficit and ultimately to exchange rate depreciation. should this occur, i would not be surprised to hear voices blaming the central bank for this outcome, without trying to identify the actual, deep reasons behind the unfavourable developments. therefore, both subdued inflation and exchange rate stability are strongly related to the coherence of the policy mix adopted by the authorities. in particular, the run - up to elections laid the groundwork for making empty promises and even for adopting pieces of legislation that are likely to have a significant impact on macroeconomic equilibria. in this case, the nbr ’ s task is to identify major risks arising from the implementation of ill - designed policies. unfortunately, credibility is hard to gain, but easy to lose. losing credibility can have more severe effects than, let us say, the temporary government deficit widening. the world economy is facing tremendous difficulties. i express my confidence that, the coordinated and appropriate policies of the most developed international economies will help prevent a crisis similar in size to that of 1929 - 1933. it is beyond any shadow of a doubt that this period will have a decisive impact on the world economic model. during

alan greenspan : change in the us retail payment systems speech by mr alan greenspan, chairman of the board of governors of the us federal reserve system, before the national automated clearinghouse association annual meeting, held in los angeles, on 10 april 2000. * * * it is a pleasure to be with you this morning to discuss the changes that are taking place in our retail payments system. many of the individuals and institutions involved in these changes will be addressing this conference over the next three days. it seems clear that, as in many sectors of the economy, innovations in technology, changes in business practices, and effective competition are reinforcing one another and causing the pace of experimentation with new products and services to accelerate. nonetheless, the payment systems of the united states present a paradox. our systems and banking arrangements for handling large - value dollar payments are all electronic and have been for many years. banking records, including those for loans and deposits, have been computerized since the 1960s. securities markets also now rely on highly automated records and systems, born out of necessity following the paperwork crisis of the 1970s. yet in transactions initiated by consumers, paper - currency and checks - remains the payment system of choice. there were sweeping predictions in the late 1960s and early 1970s that electronic payments would quickly replace paper in the nation ’ s commerce. in the wholesale financial markets, these predictions came true, as concerns about risk and efficiency led to the widespread adoption of electronic technologies in back offices of financial firms and in payment and settlement systems. yet in the retail payments system, we have tended to underestimate the size of the hurdles confronting a shift away from paper. indeed, the average consumer is exceptionally conservative and traditional when it comes to money, which has a profoundly important role in day - to - day living. to the vast majority of people, it represents the stored value of one ’ s previous efforts. to many, it is the embodiment of their life ’ s work. tampering with money has always had profoundly political implications. much of american politics of the late nineteenth century, for example, was about the gold standard and the free silver movement. william jennings bryan ’ s famous “ cross of gold ” speech during the presidential campaign of 1896 reflected the deep - seated views of money ’ s role in society and, even today, one can hear echoes of that debate in the public discourse about money. our history vividly affirms that the average person is far more sensitive to what form our