willem f duisenberg : a new future for europe - welcoming the euro banknotes and coins keynote address by dr willem f duisenberg, president of the european central bank, at an awards ceremony and press conference held on the eve of the introduction of the euro banknotes and coins, frankfurt, 31 december 2001. * * * good morning ladies and gentlemen, children welcome to the final countdown to the euro banknotes and coins. of course, new year's eve is traditionally a time to take stock, to look back and to look forward. this year, however, we are very much looking forward - in more than one sense - to the introduction of the euro banknotes and coins. over 300 million europeans will be using them every day from now on, so our countdown is leading towards a new era for europe. that is why i am particularly pleased to have with us today young people from all twelve nations of the euro area - austria belgium, finland, france, germany, greece, ireland, italy, luxembourg, the netherlands, portugal and spain. they, in a very real sense, represent the future of europe itself. and that is also why i wish to extend a special welcome to the winners of our “ be a euro superstar ” competition and their families. all of us here congratulate you. by entering the competition you showed an enthusiasm to learn more about the new money. you set us an example because you took the initiative to familiarise yourself with our new money. you were chosen from among the more than 300, 000 young people who learned about the seven new euro banknotes and eight new euro coins in order to participate in the competition. we congratulate them and their teachers as well. a single currency is a dream which europeans have had for decades. but why did europeans have that dream? and why did europe pursue that dream when no one had ever attempted before to replace a dozen currencies simultaneously with a single currency? perhaps i can best explain that to you if i begin by revealing something which you may have trouble believing. it is this : i, too, was once a child. and the europe into which i was born was a very different place from the europe of today. it was part of a world suffering from a terrible economic depression. it was a continent whose nations were about to learn the terrible lessons of war for a second time in less than half a century. out of the folly of dictatorship and the errors of protectionism was born

globalisation was associated with the blossoming of key contributions to economics such as the quantity theory invented by the school of salamanca, but also, quite alarmingly, the rise of protectionist mercantilism. catalonia was indeed an early victim of protectionism, as only in 1778 it was allowed to trade with the americas by decree of charles iii. 4 setting the stage : globalisation and the euro area as globalisation means different things to different people, there are also many popular measures of globalization. for example, the 2005 issue of foreign policy magazine ranked countries in terms of their degree of globalisation based on a variety of criteria, including international travel and tourism, membership in international organizations, contributions to united nations peacekeeping missions, international telephone traffic, internet hosts and so on. the three most globalised countries turned out to be singapore, ireland and switzerland ; “ what an extraordinary episode in the economic progress of man that age was which came to an end in august, 1914! [ … ] the inhabitant of london could order by telephone, sipping his morning tea in bed, the various products of the whole earth, in such quantity as he might see fit, and reasonably expect their early delivery upon his door - step ; he could at the same moment and by the same means adventure his wealth in the natural resources and new enterprises of any quarter of the world, and share, without exertion or even trouble, in their prospective fruits and advantages ; or he could decide to couple the security of his fortunes with the good faith of the townspeople of any substantial municipality in any continent that fancy or information might recommend. [ … ] but, most important of all, he regarded this state of affairs as normal, certain, and permanent, except in the direction of further improvement, and any deviation from it as aberrant, scandalous, and avoidable. ” john maynard keynes, the economic consequences of the peace, new york : harcourt, brace and howe, 1920, pp. 10 – 12 ; quoted by m. wynne ( 2005 ), “ globalization and monetary policy, ” southwest economy, federal reserve bank of dallas, issue 4, pp. 1 - 8. see berlin declaration of 25 march 2007. papademos, l. ( 2007 ), “ the effects of globalisation on inflation, liquidity and monetary policy ”, speech delivered at the nber conference on “ international dimensions of monetary policy, ” girona, 11 june 2007. the united states was fourth. 5 when