norm for monetary policy and as the nominal anchor for the economy, that is, a means of anchoring inflation expectations so that they do not drift away. the idea was that a fixed exchange rate for the krona would mean that inflation in sweden was adapted in the long term to inflation in the countries with currencies to which the krona was pegged. confidence in the fixed exchange rate would mean that the expectations of inflation in sweden would largely be the same as the expectations in the countries to which we were thus linked. but in sweden, as in many other countries, it proved impossible to prevent inflation soaring with a fixed exchange rate regime. other countries which tried to control inflation by means of targets for the money supply also faced problems. the riksbank announced its inflation target in january 1993, after the krona had been allowed to float earlier in the autumn with a great hullabaloo. the bank then announced that the target for monetary policy would be to hold the annual change in the consumer price index at 2 per cent. the target would formally apply with effect from 1995. in this way sweden became one of the first countries to choose to formulate its monetary policy in terms of an explicit inflation target. despite being aware that it would be difficult to attain the target exactly, the riksbank chose to formulate the target with a specific figure for inflation. one of the most important reasons for this was to try to create an anchor around which inflation expectations could be stabilised. clarity and openness were guiding principles for the inflation - targeting regime right from the start, and i believe that this has played an important part in building up confidence in the inflation target. this culture has therefore continued to permeate the riksbank ’ s activities. it is also important so that the riksdag, which is our principal, can evaluate the bank and require accountability from us. this motive became particularly important when the new wording of the sveriges riksbank act gave the riksbank an executive board with an independent position in 1999. why 2 per cent? the new wording of the sveriges riksbank act applying from 1999 changed the objective for the riksbank ’ s activities to maintaining price stability. the previous act contained a more general formulation that the riksbank was responsible for “ foreign exchange and credit policies ”. when the new wording was produced, it was pointed out in the preliminary work that in principle the act could be very

inclusiveness is not only an antidote to inequality, it is also a powerful driver of economic development and resilience. that is why we need to pursue inclusive growth. in labour markets, o. bandiera, a. kotia, i. lindenlaub, c. moser and a. prat, “ meritocracy across countries ”, nber wp no. 32375, 2024. w. dauth, o. schlenker and s. findeisen, “ organized labor versus robots? evidence from micro data ”, iza dp no. 19192, 2024. l. lagos, “ union bargaining power and the amenity - wage tradeoff ”, iza dp no. 17034, 2024. c. lipowski, a. salomons and u. zierahn - weilage, “ expertise at work : new technologies, new skills, and worker impacts ”, zew dp no. 24 - 044, 2024. j. m. barrero, n. bloom and s. j. davis, “ the evolution of work from home ”, journal of economic perspectives, 2023. this means tackling the barriers that have long marginalized certain groups, including migrants and women. the literature has increasingly recognized the important role of immigrants in the economy – in particular their contribution to innovation, labour market fluidity and female participation – and has found that their skills are primarily complementary to those of natives. 7 another important aspect, that has received less attention, is the impact of highskilled immigration on firms. a paper on this topic, to be presented tomorrow, demonstrates the positive impact of high - skilled migration on firm performance and employment. 8 regardless of how important these aspects are, we cannot avoid mentioning the host of challenges posed by the ageing of advanced societies, a particularly pressing concern in italy. the political debate has often focused on illegal immigration, but awareness is growing that a proper management of migration flows is important to counter the decline in labour force caused by ageing. another part of the solution to the ageing problem must come from increasing labour force participation. policies in this area are also essential, and involve, inter alia, promoting female participation in the labour market ( another pressing concern in italy ). regarding the study of gender gaps, we are honoured to have as our second keynote speaker professor claudia olivetti, a leading economist in this important field.