in 2001, the industry generated $ 10 billion in earnings, or a return on assets of about 1. 09 percent - - both about five times the comparable figures for 1992. the extent to which the banking and thrift industries are intertwined may be best reflected by the fact that 34 percent of savings institution deposits are now bif - insured. the banking industry too has experienced consolidation, as the number of insured commercial banks declined from about 11, 450 in 1992 ( with total assets of $ 3. 5 trillion ) to about 7, 960 in june of this year ( with total assets of $ 6. 7 trillion ). interestingly, the average bank then, as now, was about $ 120 million smaller than the average thrift : $ 310 million in 1992 compared with $ 840 million as of this june. banks have grown both organically and by merger, in many cases combining multiple bank subsidiaries of the same bhc for efficiency. these aggregate figures mask some significant differences between large and small banks. total assets at the largest banks - - that is, those larger than $ 10 billion - - grew most rapidly, reaching $ 4. 7 trillion compared with $ 1. 4 trillion in 1992. that represents an annual growth rate of nearly 14 percent. one has to be a little careful when comparing size categories over a period of this many years. over this period the number of banks over $ 10 billion grew by half - - from 51 to 77 - - because some smaller institutions were able to grow or merge their way into this largest - size class. the advent of interstate banking provided important impetus to this process, as noted earlier. in contrast, total assets at all community banks - - that is, those with less than $ 1 billion in assets - - have remained essentially unchanged since 1992, at just a bit above $ 1 trillion. total assets at regional banks - - those between $ 1 billion and $ 10 billion - - actually declined over this ten - year period, falling from about the same level as community banks, to about $ 900 billion. the number of regional banks fell just slightly over this period, to about 320, while the number of community banks fell quite sharply under the influence of consolidation. despite the consolidation in the banking industry, more than 8, 000 separate banks [ and 1, 000 thrifts ] remain, and for every four bank charters that have disappeared through consolidation, one new de novo charter has been approved. while the number of banks has declined, the

quality primary, secondary and tertiary education. what is crucial to educational success in 5 to 50 years is that we increase public spending on qualified personnel. moreover, active labour market policies shall support the jobless in their efforts to qualify for other professions. 6. conclusion ladies and gentlemen the euro area ’ s economy has made it through the rain and is now under relative sunny skies. yet clouds still hover over the less - than - complete recovery – a lot remains to be done. the germany economy, on the other hand, has been in the sun for quite some time now, and even the short term outlook is quite promising. yet, serious medium - term risks loom. a vital euro area requires more reform : the monetary union must be reformed – but it is not a matter of simply more – or less – european integration. instead we need problem - oriented reforms of its institutional design. moreover, member states must embrace reform. for example, germany has to face the demographic challenges, and its economic policy has to strike the right balance between fostering the competitive dynamics of market economies and ensuring the social cohesion that is necessary for democracies. 5 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches i am confident that this is possible – but policymakers have to take their responsibility to reform very serious. thank you for your attention. 1 gdp projection by imf : 2017 : 2. 1 % ( + 0. 2 pp ) ; 2018 : 1. 9 % ( + 0. 2 pp ) ; gdp projection by ecb staff ; 2017 : 2. 2 % ( + 0. 3 pp ) ; 2018 : 1. 8 % ( + 0. 0 pp ) ; 2019 : 1. 7 % ( + 0. 0 pp ). 2 european central bank ( 2017 ), assessing labour market slack. ecb economic bulletin 2017 ( 3 ) : 31 – 35. 3 deutsche bundesbank ( 2017 ), design and implementation of the european fiscal rules, monthly report, june 6 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches