however, this was due to many other accompanying measures, not just the separation of the currency. in other words, the currency was only as strong as the foundations of the set of economic policies in place at the time. as you all know, we tried a currency separation again in february 1993. again we had nothing to be ashamed of, as not a single drop of blood was shed in the process. savings started to spill over from slovakia into banks in the czech republic as soon as the former federation broke up. the general level of uncertainty also increased, affecting the foreign exchange market. but despite all that, the excellent organisational preparations for this step, stared secretly in the middle of the previous year, allowed the operation to be conducted quickly and efficiently. the architects of this currency separation deserve great recognition, because everything began to return to normal soon afterwards and the previous uncertainty quickly faded away. it is no secret that they were inspired primarily by rasin ’ s separation and its success, and they themselves later became a source of inspiration for currency separations in other economies gaining independence. all this tells us that the czech nation is reasonably good at running its own macroeconomic, monetary and financial affairs. it has never had to resort to an exchange rate arrangement such as a currency board, and it has enjoyed the benefits of relative economic and monetary independence. although at times the exchange rate of the koruna has been a source of domestic economic volatility, at other times it has done a great job of absorbing external shocks. until quite recently, we were also using the koruna exchange rate as an unconventional monetary policy instrument to help us achieve the inflation target. our ability to conduct our own monetary policy successfully is one reason why the czech republic is not currently seeking to adopt the euro any time soon. to sum up, the past 100 years have not been a series of random economic events. despite all the discontinuities, there has been some continuity. in the same way that we inherit various physical and personality traits from our forebears, economists learn their craft from those that came before them and pave the way for those that come after. i am sure this conference will bear me out on that. i wish you an interesting debate. thank you for listening. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

jiri rusnok : currency, taxes and other institutes of financial law welcome speech by mr jiri rusnok, governor of the czech national bank, at the currency, taxes and other institutes of financial law conference, faculty of law, charles university, prague, 20 september 2018. * * * good morning, everyone. it is an honour and a pleasure for me to welcome you to today ’ s conference on the currency, taxes and other institutes of financial law. the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the independent czechoslovakia is a good opportunity to look back and identify the main features of our national economic history. as you know, we have been through four periods since 1918 – the period of political and economic emancipation from austria - hungary, the wartime economy, the era of central - planning - based totalitarian communism, and finally almost three decades of democracy and a market economy. so, more than enough has happened in our country over the last 100 years. although these periods could not have been more different, two common features have appeared in various guises. i would characterise them on the one hand as economic moderation, prudence and discipline, and on the other as a struggle for economic independence and a willingness and ability to bear the consequences. let me give some examples of both. czechoslovakia ’ s founding fathers tomas garrigue masaryk, karel kramar and alois rasin were well aware that nurturing a sound financial environment was crucial to the prosperity of the young nation. the czech lands had been a key industrial and economic part of the former austriahungary and hence had a relatively well - developed banking sector. an awareness of the close links between government finances, the banking sector, firms and households shaped the economic policy of the first czechoslovak republic. karel englis worked systematically to balance the budget and deserves most of the credit for sorting out public finances in the early 1920s. in 1927 he submitted three tax laws that substantially lowered corporate taxation and supported the creation of capital. at the same time, though, he tied the tax reform, which led to lower revenues, to cuts in government expenditure and a streamlining of the civil service. so, rasin and englis established a trinity of traditions in our country : a stable currency, sound government finances and non - inflationary economic policy. these traditions became a theoretical, practical and moral legacy for subsequent generations of economic policymakers. it is unusual these days to look back to the communist period for economic inspiration. the