financial centres. but to make the most of europe ’ s potential as a “ financial amazon ”, market - driven specialisation will also be needed as a third pillar. specialisation can help deliver economies of scale, increase the potential for innovation, and achieve excellence. in an environment of “ coopetition ” – a neologism merging the words cooperation and competition, european financial centres could cooperate, compete and, at the same time, hone their own areas of expertise. but this is a vision for the future. it ’ s a picture of the future that is also very much in our own inherent interest as a central bank, because the more that financial flows end up where our system is in force, the more we are able to promote financial and price stability as well as a strong currency. 5 conclusion ladies and gentlemen, “ brexit means brexit ” – but at the end of the day, what this means for the financial centre of europe is very much up to us. this goes for those of you who are domestic and foreign banks, for those of you who make policy at the regional, national and european level, and for us as central banks and supervisors. now a change of perspective is in order : let ’ s see brexit as an opportunity for us, not by naively whitewashing what is a regrettable development, but by planning a sober yet forward - looking 4 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches model. thank you for your attention. 5 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches

jens weidmann : strengthening forces for growth – reforms geared towards boosting prosperity speech by dr jens weidmann, president of the deutsche bundesbank, at the economic summit of the suddeutsche zeitung, berlin, 28 november 2014. * 1. * * introduction dear mr kister, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for inviting me to this event. it gives me great pleasure to be here with you today. i wonder if any of you have heard of will rogers. the man i refer to was a very well - known figure in the usa back in the twenties and thirties. beginning his career as a lassoo artist, he went on to become one of the first big names in hollywood. he was also a renowned documentary maker and newspaper columnist. in short : he was a true all - rounder. what is more, he was a humourist whose aphorisms are still popular as quotations today because many of them remain topical. for example, he once commented that mankind ’ s three greatest inventions were first fire, second the wheel and third central banks. he made this assertion in 1920, in other words seven years after the federal reserve was established. however, its message is surprisingly relevant to today ’ s world where many people appear to believe that central banks hold the key to resolving all our economic woes. nowadays, central banks are viewed as the font of all wisdom in the fight against financial and sovereign debt crises and economic deficits in general. indeed, some observers deem them to be the only capable actors gracing the stage. people ’ s expectations of monetary policy, especially of european monetary policy, are correspondingly high. but let me make one thing clear : central banks are not magicians. and they have no wand to make all our wishes come true. in particular, it is fanciful to believe that monetary policy tools can sustainably lift the growth potential of an economy or permanently create new jobs. these goals can only be achieved through structural reforms as growth and employment are generated by innovative enterprises that offer competitive products combined with a welltrained and highly motivated workforce. in my opinion, japan is a good illustration of this fact, although it is undoubtedly still too early to make a final assessment of that country ’ s economic policy strategy, known as abenomics. this approach, characterised by an expansionary monetary policy coupled with a short - term stimulative fiscal policy and growth - inducing structural reforms, was designed inter alia to