##ised countries. norwegian households have enjoyed lower prices and a broader range of goods. it has been easy to find employment. norwegian owners and shareholders have also fared very well. although the share of value added accruing to wage earners has decreased since the beginning of the 1990s, real wage growth has been high. on average, today ’ s wage earners earn real wages that are 50 per cent higher than in 1990. this corresponds to annual growth of over 2 per cent. at the same time, employment has risen. business and labour market conditions have been unusually favourable in recent years. should export prices fall, productivity growth slacken and foreign workers return to their home country, the wage share and unemployment will increase and business sector profits will fall. even in the absence of these developments, low unemployment and high profits may be difficult to sustain. developments will depend on how far businesses – in their search for qualified labour – will bid up wages. the economic policy reforms of the 1980s and 1990s set the stage for invention and innovation and the development of a market for equity capital and loans in norway. this has resulted in restructuring in the business sector, increased productivity, real wage growth and a high level of job creation, but also very high earnings for successful businesspeople and entrepreneurs. we will probably have to learn to live with our entrepreneurs and capital owners, and they must live with the society that has provided them with favourable business conditions. in norway, there is a relatively even distribution of income, as illustrated in the chart. in the chart, we compare the second - highest decile of wage earners with the lowest decile. wage differentials are smaller in norway than in any other oecd country. in the us, the group of from jon e. dølvik, t. fløtten, g. hernes and j. m. hippe ( 2007 ) : “ hamskifte – den norske modellen i endring ( fundamental shift – the norwegian model in flux ”, p. 15, gyldendal norsk forlag a / s. norwegian only. richard b. freeman : “ labor market imbalances : shortages, or surpluses, or fish stories? ”, at the boston federal reserve economic conference, june 14 - 16, 2006. wage earners in the second highest decile earn almost five times as much as the lowest decile while in norway that group only earns twice as much. thus, the fundamental

european central bank : press conference on the chosen design for the new ecb premises introductory statements by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, and mr lucas papademos, vice president of the european central bank, to the press conference on the chosen design of the international urban planning and architectural design competition for the new ecb premises, frankfurt, 20 january 2005. * * * ladies and gentlemen, we have invited you today for the presentation of the chosen design proposal in the international urban planning and architectural design competition for the new ecb premises. in our introductory remarks we would like to do the following : first, to briefly recall the main steps that have led to the outcome of the competition. second, to present the chosen design proposal in some detail. and third, to explain what happens next. afterwards, we will be happy to answer further questions, as will the chosen architect when it comes to technical questions on the design proposal. the decision of the governing council / the conclusion of the competition last thursday, on 13 january 2005, “ the governing council chose the design for the ecb ’ s new premises out of the 3 revised design proposals of the 3 prize winners of the international urban planning and architectural design competition. after extensive discussion and a careful evaluation, the governing council concluded that the revised design concept of coop himmelb ( l ) au best meets the functional and technical requirements specified by the ecb, and has features that reflect the ecb ’ s values and transforms them into architectural language. ” [ quotation of the press release ] on 13 february 2004 an international jury consisting of architects, eurosystem representatives and a representative of the city of frankfurt chose three winning designs in accordance with the following criteria, as laid down in the competition rules out of the 12 design concepts submitted in the second phase of the competition : 1. overall town - planning, architecture and landscape ; 2. compliance with the main features of the functional and spatial programme, including modularity ; 3. feasible approach to an energy / environmental concept and compliance with the main features of the ecb ’ s technical requirements ; 4. compliance with the relevant rules, in particular in the field of building law and environmental law. the first prize was awarded to coop himmelb ( l ) au, vienna ; the second prize to asp schweger assoziierte, berlin ; and the third prize to 54f architekten + ingenieure, darmstadt, in