but also less unemployment. and, on the whole, they were also able to handle the oil shock and the unpredictability of the us dollar and other currencies much better. besides, they were able to acquire an increasingly high stock of confidence on the part of the financial markets, resulting in relatively low capital market rates. this positive experience is something you in austria have also gained. the reasoning behind your hard - currency policy - - if i understand it correctly, as an outsider - - is likewise based on the realisation that inflation does not solve any problems. austria has been consistent in applying this hard - currency policy - - even during a period which was somewhat difficult ( the second half of the 1960s ). on the whole, this has led to the financial markets and the public having a justifiably high degree of confidence in the schilling. the question of whether monetary policy can be employed to promote and secure jobs also crops up every now and then in germany as well as in your country. on the one hand, this seems understandable. a high degree of monetary stability has been achieved at the moment worldwide. by contrast, high unemployment is a pressing problem, especially on the european continent. however, for those who have been following monetary policy practice over the past decades, the debate sometimes seems quite eerie. for monetary history has indeed pronounced a clear - cut judgement : maintaining monetary stability over the medium and long term is undoubtedly the best contribution monetary policy can make to employment, even if monetary policy by itself can neither secure nor create employment. for some time now, europeans have been increasingly interested in findings in the united states, where, for some time now, a rather dynamic upswing, a relatively tight labor market, and yet a comparatively low rate of inflation have coincided. what can and should we in europe learn from that? if europe succeeds in making its labour markets significantly more flexible, and if competitive pressure in the goods markets rises significantly ; and if this causes the wind of the global markets and of worldwide competition to be conveyed more strongly internally via flexible, highly competitive structures, and the european economy is given a breath of fresh air, then the conditions for sustained price stability in europe will improve. then, perhaps even the european central bank can get by with relatively low interest rates in future in order to keep inflation in check. the key to that, though, is certainly not a lax or pseudo - employment - oriented monetary policy ( which would, in actual fact,

finances. sound public financial governance is the legitimate use of authority in the management of a country ’ s financial resources with integrity to promote sustainable development. at the heart of it all, sound governance practices in the government can be traced back to the concept articulated by french enlightenment political philosopher ( baron de ) montesquieu in the 18th century. the separation of power between the legislative, executive and judicial arms of the government safeguards against authority being excessively centralised in any particular party. it is the effective separation of power that provides the checks and balances that ensure that there is strong financial governance at all levels of government. it is the effective separation of power that ensures that the decision maker not only considers his or her self - interest but also that of the society at large. it is the effective separation of power that ensures that the risk of abuse or misuse of public funds is minimized. therefore, if you want to know the state of public financial governance in a country, the first question to ask is whether there is effective separation of power. to a great extent, the current state of public finances reflects the past track record of financial governance in the public sector. if the state of fiscal health in the crisis - affected economies had been in a better condition, monetary policy would not have had to do so much heavy lifting, qe may not have seen the light of day, and we may now be having better economic growth. when there is an imbalance in macroeconomic policies, or when such bis central bankers ’ speeches policies are used as substitutes for structural reforms, the long - term outcomes will always be sub - optimal, not least because of the distortions and imbalances that are created. it is certainly the case that the recent crisis has been a key factor behind the increase in government indebtedness. in the aftermath of the crisis, governments in the crisis affected economies had to use public funds to rescue troubled banks. for example, ireland had a government debt to gdp ratio of just 24 % in 2007, but due to its banking crisis and its impact on the irish economy, that number jumped to 111 % by 2011 3. in fact, even for countries that were not at the centre of the financial crisis, fiscal spending to stimulate domestic demand was increased to offset the negative real sector shock created by the crisis. the low growth environment also reduced the tax revenues of governments, further eroding public finances. so, the crisis certainly played a role in the worsening