yves mersch : economic policy and the need for humility speech by mr yves mersch, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the conference " banking and financial regulation ", bocconi university, milan, 9 october 2017. * * * “ [ … ] five years from now the dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model that central bankers worship like baal will still be there. there will be a few changes to the parameters, and maybe a constraint or two added like temple lamps, but apparently they never learn. ” 1 john dizard the policy maker ’ s environment is a multi - faceted one. she or he faces a continually changing economic landscape. let me give you some specific examples. economic data — upon which we base our policy decisions — appear at different times and with different qualities : for instance, some economic series ( such as trade and investment data ) are subject to considerable revision over time. moreover, the transmission lags of monetary policy changes are often long, uncertain, and perhaps even contingent on the state of economy ( for example whether it is an expansionary or contractionary phase ). last, but certainly not least, policy making itself does not operate in a vacuum or in a laboratory. there is the practical backdrop of legal, constitutional, cultural, and political economy constraints etc. experience, judgement and the acknowledgement of uncertainty are key parts of that environment, and key parts of the policy maker ’ s outlook. to help assess economic developments and to facilitate policy discussion, though, central banks use a variety of macroeconomic models and econometric tools. despite the sophisticated tools and analysis at our disposal, the uncertainty underlining the policy environment is pervasive. accordingly, i believe policy makers must show humility in their understanding of how the economy works, and how policy works. before the financial crisis many distinguished policy makers and academics treated economics and finance as if it had attained something of a natural science – replete with regularities upon which most economists could, and seemingly did, agree. indeed, some even declared the business cycle dead. the doubters meanwhile ( among them robert gordon, raghuram rajan, robert shiller ) were either neglected or – what is worse – labelled luddites. the global financial crisis challenged such complacency. in effect, it shone a light on our over confidence and, exposed our very lack of humility. more philosophically, the crisis also suggested that we, as a profession

- savvy nature of the younger generation. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches in seychelles, financial empowerment of the youth was given impetus with the launch of the national financial education strategy in 2017, which identified this important segment of the population as one of four main target groups that need to be financially educated. over the past five years, the central bank of seychelles has undertaken various initiatives targeting the youth at an institutional level and in collaboration with other stakeholders. these have taken multiple forms, such as in - person or virtual sessions at workplaces and educational institutions and the dissemination of awareness materials through mainstream and social media. a financial education youth ambassadors programme was also launched in 2021 to empower young people aged between 16 and 30 on financial matters and encourage peer - to - peer learning and advocacy on financial education. at a national level, entrepreneurship and financial education are being integrated into the school curriculum at primary and secondary institutions and relevant professional centres to empower the youth to be financially responsible individuals and develop their interests and abilities to become prospective entrepreneurs and business owners. the central bank also partners with different stakeholders annually to commemorate national and international events, such as the global money week and youth festival, encouraging the youth to learn about money matters and providing networking educational opportunities around financial issues. at this juncture, it is essential to note that effective financial education is about more than just promoting opportunities. it is equally important to raise awareness of customer rights, avoiding indebtedness, the need for the prudent use of financial services, which encompasses the safe and secure use of digital financial services to avoid financial fraud schemes, and the importance of protecting one's financial and personal information, amongst others. the participation of the central bank of seychelles in the annual international fraud awareness week since 2019 is one of the initiatives being implemented to promote anti - fraud awareness and education. i am confident that each country in the region is working hard at implementing similar initiatives and finding ways to design and implement innovative policies that will help the younger generation to navigate longstanding and emerging global challenges, such as the covid - 19 pandemic and geopolitical events that are having spillover effects across the globe thus impacting the livelihoods of everyone including the young people. today's webinar is providing us with an opportunity to take stock of the current level of financial inclusion on the african continent, share expertise and experiences on the implementation of our countries'respective financial inclusion policies, identify gaps and challenges that still exist and