trading and payments technologies enabled investors and banks to shift assets quickly away from currencies prone to inflation and related risks. in the 1990s, many countries - including brazil, korea, and mexico - implemented real - time gross settlement payment systems, which allowed markets to rapidly settle payments and other obligations with finality during the day. • financial innovations such as credit card networks and money market mutual funds allow households and firms to minimize their holdings of cash and central bank reserves, thus shrinking the base of the inflation tax. • increased circulation of banknotes in dollars or other hard currencies enable citizens to conduct transactions without holding inflationary currency. data published on the federal reserve ’ s website show a dramatic increase in the fraction of u. s. federal reserve notes that are estimated to be held in foreign countries. the fraction of u. s. federal reserve notes held abroad rose from under 20 percent in 1980 to almost 50 percent in the late 1990s. given these innovations, a government that pressures a central bank to pursue an inflationary policy gets much less benefit for each unit increase in inflation because people can more easily switch out of the local currency. in other words, the inflation tax becomes much more difficult and costly to levy because citizens can more easily avoid the tax by using an alternative money. the second and closely related factor behind disinflation is deregulation and competition in a globalized marketplace. the collapse of the centrally - planned economies has led many countries to turn increasingly to private markets to deliver growth and progress and reduce the role of government. technology has helped to increase global competition by shrinking the barriers of time and distance. again, there are several channels by which globalization and competition may have affected the costbenefit tradeoff in pursing inflation : • as kenneth rogoff pointed out at the 2003 jackson hole conference sponsored by the federal reserve bank of kansas city, greater competition leads to more - flexible prices. 8 when prices are more flexible, a central bank ’ s ability to temporarily influence output is diminished while its influence on inflation is enhanced. thus, more - competitive markets naturally help central banks achieve price stabilization. i discussed aspects of this factor in my presentation at a may 2001 conference at the federal reserve bank of cleveland, cited above. kenneth s. rogoff ( 2003 ), " globalization and global disinflation, " in monetary policy and uncertainty : adapting to a changing economy : a symposium ( federal reserve bank of kansas city, aug. 28 – 30 )

the sustainability of the tourism industry from a data analysis perspective keynote address by governor dr. kevin greenidge at the barbados hotel and tourism association ’ s third quarterly general meeting thursday, august 24, 2023 0 | page central bank of barbados tom adams financial centre, spry street, bridgetown p. o. box 1016 telephone : ( 246 ) 436 - 6870 : fax. ( 246 ) 436 - 7836 e - mail address : info @ centralbank. org. bb website : www. centralbank. org. bb the sustainability of the tourism industry from a data analysis perspective i am deeply honoured to address the backbone of our nation's economic vitality - our esteemed tourism sector. today, i'd like to delve into a matter of utmost importance : the sustainability of our tourism industry as unveiled through data analysis. tourism, as we all know, is not just an industry ; it's the lifeblood of our nation. it celebrates our vibrant culture, pristine beaches, and the warm barbadian spirit. but, as the stewards of this vital sector, it is incumbent upon us to ask : how sustainable is our current trajectory? at the central bank, our team has rigorously employed the latest in data analytics to answer this very question. and the insights are both enlightening and imperative. today i will focus on five key insights from that analysis. 1. tourist demographics and preferences are changing : our data reveals a shift in the demographics visitors to barbados by age of our visitors. the younger generations, 35 % particularly millennials and gen z, are jan. 2004 - dec. 2005 jan. 2022 - jul. 2023 displaying an increasing interest in barbados. 30 % 31. 0 % the data shows that over the last two decades 26. 5 % 25 % there has been a doubling in the share of 20. 5 % 20. 5 % visitors under 35 years ( whereby now over 30 20 % 19. 8 % 18. 1 % 16. 8 % 16. 4 % 15 % percent of our visitors are under 35 years ), 15. 5 % 14. 9 % while those above 66 years have halved. 10 % these younger individuals are more 5 % environmentally conscious and seek authentic, eco - friendly experiences. they are 0 % 0 - 35 36 - 45 46 - 55 56 - 65 66 + more inclined to support businesses that age ranges prioritise sustainability. they are also more digitally oriented and integrated and thus