, issue 2 / 2017. barriers to trade would undermine this virtuous process and thereby cause both productivity and potential output to decline. the potential growth rate of advanced economies has already slowed over recent decades, reflecting a number of factors, including the ageing population, 9 see nerlich, c. and j. schroth ( 2018 ), “ the economic impact of population ageing and pension reforms ”, economic bulletin, issue 2 / 2018. as well as declining productivity growth. so to sum up, why does protectionism matter for central banks? first, because a “ trade war ” scenario would add to global uncertainty at a time when some central banks have only just begun the process of unwinding the unconventional policy measures put in place following the global financial crisis. and second, because a further adverse structural shock to productivity may lead us to be more often constrained in the longer term by the effective lower bound on nominal interest rates and to increase the need to resort to unconventional policy measures. conclusions let me conclude. 4 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches greater global economic integration has boosted living standards worldwide and lifted millions out of poverty. yet, its distributional impacts both across and within countries have not been adequately addressed, a fact that ultimately provides the political motivation for the protectionist moves we observe. winding back globalisation is the wrong solution to address these concerns. a retreat from openness will only fuel more inequality as import prices rise, goods become dearer and real incomes fall. it would deprive people of the undisputed economic advantages that trade and integration bring and thereby exacerbate economic hardship for the poorest in society. and it would breed distrust among nations, making for a more unstable international order. the distributional and social effects of greater economic integration should rather be addressed by targeted policies that achieve fairer outcomes. this requires a strong political and institutional landscape which can ensure that the geographical scope of policy action and political debates coincide with the scope of market integration. this is a landscape which in europe is best provided by the european union. by allowing member states to recover some of the state functions that have been eroded by globalisation, the european union is a vehicle that brings the benefits of economic openness to the greatest number of its citizens while protecting them against untrammelled global forces. it represents the most progressive model we have for taking back control of globalisation by addressing people ’ s concerns over open markets and fair competition – doubts that individual countries on

development in banking in this country. in reviewing this year of real progress, so far, i shall touch on : • the formal institutional developments, • the internal light re - engineering or restructuring, • our new relationships with stakeholders, and • some of the events in our pageant of 40th anniversary year celebrations. institutional developments allow me to list a few of the critical institutional reforms that have already changed the pattern of our work together. for the first time in our history, we have a monetary policy committee, which, with its new independence, will ensure a more adaptive capacity for determining the best monetary interests for the country. we have had the amendment to the banking act, which gives the mpc decisive powers. we have instituted a new departure in communications policy that ensures that, you know as much as we do, about both the decisions and the analysis. yesterday, in our fifth meeting, we came to an historic decision on interest rates, by unanimous vote : business as usual ; no change! for those new to these matters, i must confirm that it is not a requirement that the members of the mpc are signed up adherents to monetarist theory. we have a more liberal perspective here ; rather taking the view that monetarism, like marxism, has suffered the only fate for a theory worse than death ; it was, for a time, put into practice. history teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives. what worries me, and i guess most other bankers, is that when great men get drunk with theory, it is the little men who wake up with the headache. we now have a new formal accord on our complementary functions with the financial services commission the fsc. this will i believe set a new tone for harmonious cooperation between the several actors in promoting safe more efficient and stable leadership and management in the sector. this accord is the start of a journey we are making, together. it is not a final destination we have already attained. we are passing through a tense period globally in the supervision of banking and credit. there are compelling reasons to take stock now. so we have made an important step in establishing this new accord on our relative roles in supervision of the ownership structure, corporate governance and risk management. it is this latter field that has been in the sharp focus of worldwide concern, starting with the so - called sub - prime market in the us. this has not been a local storm in a tea - cup, but a