and wealth distribution in the labor market, and more substantial redistributive measures. v otherwise, we risk losing public support for policies which contribute to our prosperity. we should not forget that international cooperation and exchange remain the key to prosperity in an interconnected world economy. finally, i would like to come back to the role of technology. let me touch on a few implications for the banking sector. whatever impact digitalization will have on the future shape of the financial sector, it is reasonable to expect a reduction of the current labor force in the banking sector. to some degree, such downsizing is already an ongoing process in the post - crisis landscape. in austria, we see employment in the banking sector decline. and we must be prepared to see a continuation of this trend in the years to come. the other important change that is likely to occur is the rising importance of market - based forms of finance, also in countries like austria, i. e. countries which are traditionally characterized by a dominance of bank - based finance. the capital markets union pursued by the european union will foster activity and cross - border integration in this domain, promoting the development of new forms to finance economic activity. but the extent of economic activity to be undertaken and its financing needs will be shaped less by technology than by the macroeconomic parameters and policies i have already referred to above. having said that, framing technological evolution in a way that best adapts to macroeconomic circumstances and contributes to their favorable development is certainly an important endeavor in an era of rapid change. i hope our conference will help foster our understanding of emerging trends and their possible impact – with all due modesty, given our experience in attempting to forecast the future. i wish all of us two days of lively and productive discussion, and i hope we will succeed in strengthening confidence in the future ahead of us. i david a. graham ( 2014 ) : rumsfeld's knowns and unknowns : the intellectual history of a quip, https : / / www. theatlantic. com / politics / archive / 2014 / 03 / rumsfelds - knowns - and - unknowns - the - intellectual - historyof - a - quip / 359719 / ii scherbov et al. ( 2008 ) : probabilistic population projections for the 27 eu member states based on eurostat assumptions, http : / / www. oeaw. ac. at / fileadmin / subsit

##es / institute / vid / pdf / publications / edrp / edrp _ 2008 _ 02. pdf iii statistics austria ( 2017 ) : population forecasts, https : / / www. statistik. at / web _ en / statistics / peoplesociety / population / demographic _ forecasts / population _ forecasts / index. html iv sources : european commission ( 2017 ) : white paper on the future of europe. reflections and scenarios for the eu27 by 2025, https : / / ec. europa. eu / commission / sites / betapolitical / files / white _ paper _ on _ the _ future _ of _ europe _ en. pdf ; world bank database v imf ( 2017 ) : world economic outlook, april, chapter 3 : understanding the downward trend in labor income shares, p. 140, http : / / www. imf. org / en / publications / weo / issues / 2017 / 04 / 04 / world - economic - outlook - april - 2017