creditors of a struggling bank will be held liable for its losses, not the taxpayer. the use of taxpayers ’ money as a last resort rather than the first line of defence in future is an important step in the right direction. the single supervisory mechanism ( ssm ) took up its supervisory role under the aegis of the ecb several weeks before 2014 drew to a close. european banks are now supervised subject to uniform, stringent standards. at the same time, the “ lifeblood of the global economy ” – as oil is sometimes known – has fallen significantly in price. you and i are benefiting directly from this as consumers because now we do not have to spend as much on fuel and heating. but enterprises are also benefiting from lower production costs, which they are likely to pass on, at least in part, to consumers and otherwise use to shore up their earnings. all in all, the fall in oil prices is akin to a stimulus package, which is likely to give economic growth in germany and the euro area an additional boost. pleasant surprises in terms of growth should therefore not be ruled out. bis central bankers ’ speeches what this means for monetary policy is currently the subject of intense debate in the ecb governing council – and, as you can imagine, i would be more than happy to discuss this with you today. however, there is what is, in principle, a sensible agreement in place in the governing council not to speak publicly about current monetary policy in the week leading up to our monetary policy meeting. hence, i cannot touch upon this topic in my speech today, but you may already be familiar with my stance. instead, i would like talk this evening about two long - term developments for which key changes of course are ultimately already set : the growth prospects of the german economy and the future of the european monetary union. speaking of the future, the media reported at the start of the year that the late 1980s timetravel comedy back to the future part ii was set in 2015 and took the opportunity to examine the extent to which hollywood ’ s representation of the future back then compared with present - day reality. as expected, reality differs dramatically from what was presented on screen. some developments, however, were predicted accurately, such as the proliferation of flat screens and video calls. but other predictions still seem visionary today : hoverboards that fly over water have not yet been invented in 2015, much less flying cars. by contrast, the world ’ s largest sportswear manufacturer

jens weidmann : speech marking the change in office of the president of the deutsche bundesbank speech by dr jens weidmann, former president of the deutsche bundesbank and chair of the board of directors of the bank for international settlements, to mark the change in office of the president of the deutsche bundesbank, frankfurt am main, 11 january 2022. * * * 1 introduction minister lindner, christine lagarde, joachim nagel, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, how nice it is that you can be here today, and what a shame that the pandemic yet again prevents us from meeting in person. that said, virtual meetings have long since become part and parcel of our day - to - day lives. here, too, a great deal has evidently changed since my inauguration. back then, even the in - house livestream of the celebration merited an article in the newspaper. 2 change and continuity in my inaugural speech, i spoke with regard to the bundesbank about the “ continuity of values in an ever - changing environment ”. i deemed three elements to be indispensable : a culture of stability, competence and independence. 1 and that still holds true today. eleven years ago, the sovereign debt crisis was rocking the euro area, and the fallout from the financial crisis was by no means over. the euro area did ultimately overcome this crisis, and additional steps towards integration were taken. however, the question that preoccupied me time and time again during my tenure and which i addressed in many of my speeches still remains : namely, how can the monetary union develop further while continuing to be a union of stability? many see political and fiscal union as a goal, and indeed, this would certainly set a consistent framework for the single currency. however, enshrined in the european treaties is a decentralised framework with member states that are more or less wholly autonomous in political, fiscal and economic terms. there is a no - bail - out clause and a ban on the monetary financing of governments by the central bank. this regulatory framework is more crisis - prone than that of a federal polity because of the impact of national decisions on all other member states. in view of this, the many independent constituent parts must show consideration for the stability of the monetary union as a whole. and that is why sound government finances in the member states and a stable banking and financial system are even more important here than in a federal set - up. a fundamental change