also started out with reform ambitions. yes, indeed. lots of governments have good intentions. the oecd has commented positively on that recently. above all, reform means getting people on board. i sometimes take a taxi and i often talk to the taxi driver. many of them have paid huge sums for a licence, which they intend to sell later to guarantee themselves a pension. it ’ s only logical that the taxi drivers will fight for their jobs. if you suddenly changed the rules to try to break the taxi market open, it would really cost a lot of money. let ’ s assume that in the paris region alone there are more than 30, 000 taxis. the costs 3 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches for a licence can be as high as €200, 000. if you want to buy out those rights, you ’ re already talking about billions. those are amounts that are suddenly macroeconomically relevant. this is what you also see with labour market reforms. the incumbents, the insiders, are protected when there are reforms, while the newcomers who want a job have to be more flexible. belgium has been held up as a champion of reform. were you surprised? a bit. at the same time it is good to acknowledge that there have been reforms. nevertheless we know that there are still huge challenges. belgium is still some way behind germany, where there ’ s money left over and they don ’ t know what to do with it. which reforms are needed most urgently now? there are several. reforms to pensions, the labour market and justice for example are recognised as being crucial in italy. education and training are also crucial in my view. flanders has a good education system, but training for jobs on the shop floor could be better. should we be worried about automation and robotisation? productivity growth has been the source of wealth since time immemorial. but there are other ways of countering negative redistribution effects than blocking progress. that ’ s what we have the government ’ s redistribution policies for. there are also things that robots can ’ t do. human interaction will remain important in many service jobs. these are currently often quite badly paid jobs, such as waiting tables or caring for the elderly in retirement homes. there is a reason why these professions are known as “ bottleneck jobs ”. whether their wages will rise if demand increases further? i don ’ t know. in any case in the future it will be not just about having the right skills on

booming and liquidity was abundant until august last year, new publicly - placed issuance has virtually dried up, except for the simpler securitised instruments backed by high - quality collateral. moreover, the value of many of the outstanding complex structured products, including some of those backed by high - quality assets, has fallen in recent months. in the corporate credit markets, spreads in the below - investment grade segment have recently widened to the highest levels since the beginning of the turmoil. in addition, the cost of buying protection against the risk of default by some of the major financial institutions ( as reflected in corporate credit default swaps spreads ) has increased again, reaching levels comparable to those seen in late march, before the bear stearns rescue. in equity markets, the stock prices of non - financial firms have also declined sharply since early may, while ( implied ) stock market volatility rose to a peak in july and has remained high. these developments reflect market expectations of a deteriorating corporate earnings outlook, increased financing costs and high and volatile commodity prices. overall, a number of developments, both external to and within the euro area, suggest that the uncertainty surrounding the euro area financial stability outlook has increased. this assessment reflects to a considerable extent the continuing decline in us house prices, which is leading to a sharp rise in loan delinquencies and losses, and associated further declines in the prices of mortgage backed securities. in the euro area, credit risks have risen, stemming from developments in some housing markets as well as in those non - financial corporate sectors which are more exposed to residential construction activity. at the same time, however, there is little evidence so far to suggest that the availability of bank credit in the euro area as a whole has been significantly affected by these developments and, more generally, by the financial turmoil. in particular, the expansion of credit to the non - financial corporate sector remains strong, though moderating. the persistence of the financial turmoil may also make the financial system more vulnerable to the crystallisation of other risks that have been previously identified by the ecb and other central banks and institutions. these include the possibility of a more broad - based turn in the global credit cycle, a disorderly unwinding of global imbalances and the financial stability implications of persistently elevated energy prices. it seems that large euro area banks have so far weathered the financial storm somewhat better than their global peers. nevertheless, the investment losses suffered by some banks could make these institutions more vulnerable to