slow down prices and thereby margins for the companies. the changes are necessary to increase our welfare, even if they create problems for some people in the short term. to manage these challenges, we should jointly strengthen the opportunities for education and skills development, even out some of the gaps arising during the upheavals and safeguard the interests of the general public by strengthening competition on the new markets. in a changing world we need to have clear game rules to ensure the economy functions smoothly. reliable price stability, in terms of purchasing power, is one such game rule. it makes it easier for individuals and companies to plan for the future, it improves price setting and wage formation and thus contributes to more stable economic activity. so, attaining our inflation target of two per cent will help to accomplish the changeover following on from digitalisation. 10 references apel, mikael, frohm, eric, hokkanen, jyry, nyman, christina and palmqvist, stefan ( 2014 ), why haven't companies raised their prices? results from a survey on company pricing ”, economic commentaries no. 4, 2014, sveriges riksbank. baumol, j william, panzar, c john, and willig, d robert ( 1982 ) “ contestable markets and the theory of industry structure ”, new york : harcourt brace jovanovich, inc. brynjolfsson, erik and mcafee, andrew ( 2011 ) “ race against the machine : how the digital revolution is accelerating innovation, driving productivity, and irreversibly transforming employment and the economy ”, new york : w. w. norton & company. cavallo, f alberto ( 2017 ), “ are online and offline prices similar? evidence from large multi - channel retailers ”, american economic review 2017, 107 ( 1 ) : 283303. cavallo, f alberto ( 2018 ) “ more amazon effects : online competition and pricing behaviors ”, national bureau of economic research, no. w25138. cowen, tyler ( 2011 ), the great stagnation, new york, dutton de loecker, jan and eeckhout, jan ( 2017 ), ” the rise of market power and the macroeconomic implications ”, national bureau of economic research, no. w23687. de loecker, jan and eeckhout, jan ( 2018 ), ” global market power ”, national bureau of economic research,

households and companies to which they lend. the bank therefore contributes to ensuring that the mediation of capital in the economy functions efficiently ; it is sufficient that borrowers can convince the bank of their creditworthiness, they do not need to convince each individual saver. similarly, savers do not have to assess the creditworthiness of every borrower ; it is enough to be satisfied of the bank's solvency. the banks can also supply payment services for households and companies by using the existing financial infrastructure, such as accounts and various routines for transferring funds between financial institutions. as these functions are central to an efficient economy, it is evident that major problems can arise if financial stability is upset. this is aptly illustrated by, for instance, the crises in south east asia at the end of the 1990s and by the bank crisis that sweden and other countries suffered at the beginning of that same decade. while the target of maintaining price stability is relatively straightforward and intuitive, it is more difficult to specify the task of promoting financial stability. this task has also been formulated in slightly different ways in different central banks ’ regulations. for instance, the bank of england ’ s charter says that it is ” responsible for the overall stability of the financial system as a whole ”, while the corresponding task in the regulations for sweden ’ s riksbank has been expressed in a more indirect manner : ” to promote the efficiency and safety of the payment system ”. 4 one strategy for maintaining financial stability can briefly be described as consisting of three different parts : a clear regulatory framework, an efficient day - to - day prudential supervision and oversight and a preparedness to act strongly and quickly in a crisis. exactly what role is played by the central bank in this strategy is also something that varies from country to country. many central banks contribute in different ways to the formulation of the regulatory framework for the financial system, for instance, by giving their views on proposed bills and by participating in committees where domestic and international legislation is formulated. with regard to the day - to - day prudential supervision and oversight, one solution that is applied in sweden and other countries is that the supervision of the financial sector is delegated to a special, independent authority with the power to apply sanctions. in other countries the supervision work is done by the central bank itself. in the cases where supervision is delegated to an independent authority, the central bank usually has an oversight role that entails regularly monitoring and analysing developments in the financial sector