##ness. i realize that i formulated the typical nuanced answer you can expect from an economist : “ real estate taxation and macroprudential policy are both substitutes and complements ”. i hope for everyone here in the room that the panelists in the next session – where this question will be discussed more extensively – will be a bit less nuanced so we can have a lively debate. fout! onbekende naam voor documenteigenschap. concluding remarks before we move to this next session, i would like to say a few more words and conclude. as i stated at the start of this keynote : the impact of volatile housing markets on financial stability and macroeconomic stability and performance is significant. to me, the dutch case clearly illustrates that too much household debt severely exacerbates this mechanism. in my view, current tax systems often contribute to cyclicality, by either incentivizing debt financing or stimulating investments in housing over other investments. in such an environment macroprudential instruments are partly in place to offset these features of the tax system. ideally however, i would like to see tax systems and macroprudential instruments working in tandem, to structurally limit the risks of excessive house price growth and leverage. therefore i believe that for us, as policymakers, there are still important steps to be taken the coming years. in various countries there is still room for improvement to extend the macroprudential toolbox or fine - tune the current instruments. moreover, in most countries the tax system can be improved a lot to reduce cyclicality. residential real estate taxation should therefore gradually transition to a level much more comparable with other sources of wealth. i want to emphasize here that when it comes to macroprudential tools and real estate taxation, i believe in a structural approach. using these tools to “ lean against the wind ”, by making discretionary changes to them through the cycle, is a far more difficult and risky exercise for us policymakers. that all said, i would like to thank everybody here for coming and giving me this stage. i really hope this conference will push this essential issue higher up the policy agenda.

yannis stournaras : the future of money speech by mr yannis stournaras, governor of the bank of greece, at the international conference & quot ; the future of money : trend - alternatives - potentials & quot ;, the american school of classical studies ( gennadius library ), athens, 24 may 2018. * * * ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for the kind invitation to this event. i am very happy to be here today and address such a distinguished audience. most people assume that all issues pertaining to “ money ” are an easy task for a central bank governor. on the contrary. some issues are very challenging, including present emerging technologies in the field of finance and mushrooming cryptocurrencies. addressing such issues presents a great opportunity for all interested to revisit the fundamental concepts surrounding money and how best to shape the monetary space in the future. more than 20 years ago bill gates stated : “ banking is essential, banks are not ”. please, allow me to disagree. banks are of utmost importance, but what is true about this quote is that the distrust that emerged towards some banking systems after the 2008 - 2009 global financial crisis and the development of a society - wide taste for decentralized, peer - to - peer, facebook - type, interactions across powerful computer networks, has dramatically altered the landscape in the financial services. and central banking in the age of digitalization is an interesting issue for reflection in the realm of monetary economics. in my speech i will try to explore some key issues in how money evolves, what is the key innovation in private digital currencies, what would a central bank digital currency be like and what might be the impact of introducing one for the central bank monetary policy. * * * “ monetary space ” to assess the possible paths that means of payment, and consequently monetary policy, may take in the coming decades, discussions often focus on the definition of money, its functions and forms. so what is money? a simple answer would probably involve adam smith ’ s example of “ the butcher, the brewer and the baker ”, where money is a solution that arose to address the inefficiencies of the barter economy. money is quite simply an asset that everyone wants. the greek word for money, “ chrima ”, means something that one uses or needs. so money as a means of payment must be efficient and safe to use. money, as we know