silver standard independently of the rouble. as the russian rouble remained inconvertible to silver, finland ’ s monetary system was thus effectively separated from russia ’ s. in 1868, the bank of finland was transferred under the control and ownership of the parliament. until then, the bank had been subordinated to the imperial senate of finland. the system in which the central bank belongs to the parliament was adopted following the swedish example and has lasted to this day. most european countries moved to the gold standard in the 1870s, and finland followed suit in 1878. at that point, the gold content of the finnish markka was defined so that it was exactly equivalent to the french franc ( as well as the belgian and swiss francs, and the italian lira ). finland thus became, by a unilateral decision, an effective member of the european franc zone ( the latin monetary union ), even if not a signatory to the monetary union agreement. the bank of finland managed to keep the exchange rate of the markka vis - a - vis the french franc constant for 36 years, from the start in 1878 until the outbreak of the first world war. finland declared her independence in december 1917, following the october revolution in russia. the first world war and the finnish civil war of 1918 caused sharp inflation. in bis central bankers ’ speeches 1923 the bank of finland finally manages to stabilize the value of the currency, and the markka had lost almost 90 per cent of its prewar value in gold. at this lower parity, the markka was returned to gold as of the beginning of 1926, following the british pound sterling. in the interwar years, the bank of finland became the undisputed leader of finland ’ s economic policy. this was largely due to the very strong governor of the bank, risto ryti, who acquired considerable prestige in finland and also abroad. ever since ryti ’ s governorship, which lasted from 1924 until the outbreak of the second world war, the governor of the bank of finland has been one of the most central figures in finnish public life. this is illustrated by the fact that four members of the board of the bank of finland have become presidents of the republic : kyosti kallio, risto ryti, urho kekkonen, and mauno koivisto. two of these, mr ryti and dr koivisto, had been governors of the bank. the great depression forced the

. this symposium explores both common and diverse trends shaping the united states ’ and european economies. it is worth underlining that the impact of euro - atlantic cooperation since the second world war has been enormous and positive in all walks of life. current developments, described by the organizers as ‘ growing together while growing apart ', could have equally far reaching consequences for us and european businesses and citizens, but to the reverse direction. it is essential to maintain our current global institutions, but at the same time to reform them to face new challenges. while the imf has been able to adapt itself successfully in the post - crisis era, it is the world trade organisation that is in the greatest need of reform today. as has been rightly said by eu commissioner cecilia malmstrom, we should make the wto reform a cornerstone of the next transatlantic project. i very much endorse this. international cooperation, and policy coordination, also played a critical role in firefighting the global financial crisis. from the start of the crisis, an intensive co - operation emerged between central banks to safeguard the functioning of the global financial system after the collapse of lehman. as global markets started to collapse, the demand for liquidity by the banks increased, not only in domestic currency, but also in foreign currency, most of all in us dollars. suddenly, the demand for dollars exceeded the supply on the wholesale market. subsequently, the swaps between the fed and the ecb began in december 2007. the ecb borrowed dollars from the fed, which took euros in exchange. by october 2008, the fed had decided on swaps with the ecb, bank of england and the swiss and japanese central banks to provide as many dollars as needed, thus fulfilling its role as the lender of last resort in dollars. importantly, the central banks had the necessary insight and determination to back words with deeds. ladies and gentlemen, after tough times and difficult decisions, europe was able to overcome the rock - bottom of the debt crisis by the end of 2012. during the euro area recovery since 2013, over 10 million net new jobs have been created. unemployment has fallen from its peak of over 12 per cent to below 8 per cent. the banking sector is now more resilient : capital buffers have been doubled, nonperforming loans reduced considerably, and lending to households and enterprises increased. the ecb ’ s accommodative monetary policy has been very important in supporting the recovery. during the first months of 2019