svein gjedrem : price stability is not self - generating opening address by mr svein gjedrem, governor of norges bank ( central bank of norway ), at the conference on historical monetary statistics hosted by norges bank, bogstad gard, oslo, june 2005. the charts in pdf - format can be found on the norges bank ’ s website. * * * introduction we can learn from the past, so that we are better equipped to make the right choices in the future. this is the second conference on historical monetary statistics hosted by norges bank. the conference was arranged for the first time last year, when we presented a book on historical monetary statistics. the bank ’ s objective has been to obtain data that can be used in research in two of the bank ’ s core areas, monetary policy and financial stability. our statistics are compiled in close cooperation with academic institutions, primarily the norwegian school of economics and business administration. later today, professor ola. h. grytten will be presenting historical wage statistics from 1730 up to 2004. historical research can be used to shed light on economic relationships and perhaps reveal patterns. the next reasonable step would seem to be to search for the answer to the question “ what is the norm? ” what is the norm? an examination of 500 years of price history in norway is of particular interest to monetary policy. history shows that price stability is the norm, and that high inflation is a phenomenon associated with war, times of famine and the 1970s and 1980s. executive director jan f. qvigstad will give a more detailed presentation of the characteristic features of periods in price history that do not follow the norm – periods of high inflation and strong deflation. once a norm has been established, the next question might be : what would the future look like if we make projections on the basis of what we know from history? two variables of special interest for economists are gdp and consumer prices. one way to make a projection is to extend trends in historical developments. if economists in 1905 had had access to today ’ s statistical concepts and techniques, they might also have performed exercises such as this. let us imagine that they did just that, and that they wanted the answer to the following question : what will be the level of prices and real income in norway when the country ’ s citizens commemorate the dissolution of the union with sweden in 2005? from our position in the present, we can say with some certainty that they would have

, but be unable to drive market - wide improvements. second, when central banks partner with private - sector participants to develop best practices, it can send a powerful signal to the market. for their part, private - sector in tmpg - covered markets and received feedback from firms active in electronic trading and an industry association of proprietary trading firms. this feedback helped refine the proposed best practice updates. the otc derivatives supervisors group originated in 2005 when the new york fed hosted a meeting of major otc derivatives dealers and their domestic and international supervisors. the alternative reference rates committee was convened by the federal reserve in 2014 in a meeting with representatives of major otc derivatives market participants, their supervisors, and central banks. outside of new york fed - sponsored groups is the group of thirty ( g30 ). the g30 was established in 1978 and is an international body composed of senior representatives in the private and public sectors and academia. it has a broad mandate and works on various issues relating to international economic and monetary affairs. the current version of tmpg ’ s best practices for treasury, agency debt, and agency mortgage - backed securities markets is available here. such documentation includes, but is not limited to, fx master agreements, fx non - deliverable transaction documents, and fx master give - up agreements. bis central bankers ’ speeches participants contribute their expertise and have a sense of ownership in the process. by integrating best practices within their own institutions, private - sector participants support market adoption. 10 central banks – with their public orientation and interest in the integrity and effectiveness of markets – can further encourage broad adoption of best practices. 11 third, central bank support can also help broaden the composition of those engaged in designing best practices. the new york fed strives to have all important segments of the market represented in the membership composition of the groups it sponsors. for example, the tmpg recently added individuals who have experience at a regional broker dealer and a high - frequency trading firm to broaden the views and perspectives on the committee. fxc membership has also evolved significantly since the group ’ s inception. both committees include institutions from the sell - side, buy - side, as well as infrastructure providers, such as trading venues. central banks, and their counterparts, also encourage international collaboration. such collaboration has increased over time and has reached a significant milestone through the work to develop an fx global code. this work spans sixteen different central banks, covering major financial centers in advanced and emerging market economies, and