the rate of growth of structural productivity remains well above its pace of a decade ago. moreover, although recent short - term business profits have softened considerably, most corporate managers appear not to have altered to any appreciable extent their long - standing optimism about the future returns from using new technology. a recent survey of purchasing managers suggests that the wave of new on - line business - to - business activities is far from cresting. corporate managers more generally, rightly or wrongly, appear to remain remarkably sanguine about the potential for innovations to continue to enhance productivity and profits. at least this is what is gleaned from the projections of equity analysts, who, one must presume, obtain most of their insights from corporate managers. according to one prominent survey, the three - to five - year average earnings projections of more than a thousand analysts, though exhibiting some signs of diminishing in recent months, have generally held firm at a very high level. such expectations, should they persist, bode well for continued strength in capital accumulation and sustained elevated growth of structural productivity over the longer term. the same forces that have been boosting growth in structural productivity seem also to have accelerated the process of cyclical adjustment. extraordinary improvements in business - to - business communication have held unit costs in check, in part by greatly speeding up the flow of information. new technologies for supply - chain management and flexible manufacturing imply that businesses can perceive imbalances in inventories at a very early stage - - virtually in real time - - and can cut production promptly in response to the developing signs of unintended inventory building. our most recent experience with some inventory backup, of course, suggests that surprises can still occur and that this process is still evolving. nonetheless, compared with the past, much progress is evident. a couple of decades ago, inventory data would not have been available to most firms until weeks had elapsed, delaying a response and, hence, eventually requiring even deeper cuts in production. in addition, the foreshortening of lead times on delivery of capital equipment, a result of information and other newer technologies, has engendered a more rapid adjustment of capital goods production to shifts in demand that result from changes in firms'expectations of sales and profitability. a decade ago, extended backlogs on capital equipment meant a more stretched - out process of production adjustments. even consumer spending decisions have become increasingly responsive to changes in the perceived profitability of firms through their effects on the

covid event, primarily how the shock moved through the financial system and which critical vulnerabilities it exposed. i also want to outline further work that the fsb plans to conduct in light of this experience, including a more in - depth assessment of how various segments of the nbfi sector performed. going forward, i expect the nbfi sector to be an ongoing focus of the fsb. the global financial system and economy prior to the shock when covid - 19 emerged early this year, the global financial system was in several ways fundamentally different than it was at the outset of the financial crisis of more than a decade ago. regulatory reforms implemented in response to that crisis, changes in technology, developments in u. s. dollar funding, and, importantly, the growth of nbfi all contributed to a changed landscape. beyond the growth of the nbfi sector, there has also been considerable change within this sector. business models and financial services provided by nbfis have become more diverse. this variation can be seen in new products, services, and financial models. new types of markets — for example, private debt markets — and new forms of intermediation, such as fintech credit, have sprung up. investments by nonbank entities in certain credit products, such as fixed income exchange traded funds and collateralized loan obligations, and participation in some 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches credit segments, such as mortgage and consumer finance, has grown. change is also evident in how the sector operates in different jurisdictions. for example, provision of credit by nonbank fintech lenders varies greatly across fsb member jurisdictions. in sum, nonbanks now play a larger and more diverse role in financing the real economy and managing the savings of households and companies. the past decade also saw an evolution in the global u. s. dollar funding landscape. while the u. s. economy forms a smaller percentage of global gross domestic product than in the past, the u. s. dollar still dominates international finance as a funding and investment currency, and its widespread use has given rise to a complex and geographically dispersed network of financial relationships. this means global economic and financial activity is highly dependent on the ability of u. s. dollar funding to flow smoothly and efficiently between users. in contrast to bank intermediation, market - based financing in u. s. dollars has outpaced the growth of the global economy. nonbank institutions — such as insurers, pension