still suffered shocks very similar to those at the time of the asian financial crisis of 1997 – 98. basically, the factor behind this was their vulnerability to external shock due to their export - driven growth strategies, rapid economic liberalization and market opening. as several researches by the fed of the us and the asian development bank ( adb ) have pointed out, the financial crisis in advanced countries was transmitted to asian economies through the trade channel even more than through the financial channel. 3 in the initial phase angus maddison, chinese economic performance in the long run, second edition, revised and updated 960 – 2030 ad, the development centre, oecd 2007. “ asia accounted for over half of world output for 18 of the past 20 centuries. ” the economist, february 27, 2010, p. 72. for example, the welcome address by ben bernanke on “ asia and the global financial crisis ” at the asia economic policy conference on october 2009 and the adb ’ s asian development outlook update on september 2009. of the crisis, the foreign exchange and financial markets in every country in asia suffered severe turmoil. however, they began to regain stability comparatively quickly. although this recovery was in part ascribable to the bold and active policy response of countries around the world, and to their close international policy cooperation, as seen for example in the use of bilateral currency swaps, it is also a fact that the asian financial sector was in comparatively strong shape thanks to its structural adjustments following the asian financial crisis, and this is considered to have played a considerable part as well. on the other hand, every country in asia also suffered very large real sector shocks by way of the trade channel. from the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2008, most asian countries shifted into states in which economic activity was extremely subdued, in line with the sharp drops in their exports as import demand in advanced countries shrank sharply due to the rapid slowdown of economic activity. subsequently, however, asian economies staged much faster recoveries than advanced countries and came to serve as the locomotives of the world economic recovery. during 2009, economic growth in major advanced countries, namely g7 countries, averaged a negative 3. 4 %, whereas that of the asian economies reached a positive 3. 6 %. in this year of 2010, growth rates in asia are expected to climb to 7. 5 %, and the forecast is that they will account for 40 % of world economic growth this year. 4 strengths and weaknesses of

yves mersch : the role of euro banknotes as legal tender speech by mr yves mersch, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the 4th bargeldsymposium of the deutsche bundesbank, frankfurt am main, 14 february 2018. * * * first of all, i would like to thank the deutsche bundesbank organisers for inviting me to speak at this symposium. the particularly good cooperation between the various eurosystem central banks in the field of cash is not only part of our core business. it also serves the people of europe, for whom euro cash has an important function. but our cash has recently come in for greater criticism. last year alone, five member states1 consulted the ecb on measures to limit the use of cash. this represents a sharp increase compared with the number of consultations on this topic in previous years. opposition to cash is coming from different quarters. on the one hand, the “ law and order ” school says that criminals use cash to finance their illegal activities. others, meanwhile, who have developed business models involving new electronic payment methods, point to the “ cost ” of cash. we have to address these arguments. in the next few minutes, i would like to consider the following questions : why does the treaty2 grant ( privileged ) legal tender status to euro banknotes? in other words, why is there legal tender status at all? what is the role of the ecb and the eurosystem in protecting this status? and what implications does this have for our activities in the eurosystem? euro banknotes, and only euro banknotes, are protected as legal tender under the primary law of article 128 ( 1 ) tfeu3. but what exactly is legal tender? there is a commission recommendation on this point4. it is not binding. but it does provide for the following key elements : mandatory acceptance ( unless explicitly agreed otherwise ) legally recognised means for repaying a debt, i. e. with a discharging effect at face value, with no levying of additional fees permitted ( as is the case, for example, with credit cards ). precisely what else can be deduced from the legal tender status is a question of interpretation : the treaty and the binding secondary legislation do not define the content of the legal tender status. the national arrangements of the 19 member states of the euro area relating to the legal tender status which predate the introduction of the euro continue to apply. in